Shed your humanity
by StormHD
Summary: What does humanity really mean? Is it bound by race, species, religion? Or is it really good and evil that one is trying to define, and live by. This is the story of Vanessa Miller and her path through life, love, death and rebirth into a world which holds no familiarity to her past.
1. Chapter 1 - Shards of the Universe

**Author note: This is a story that has been developing over the years. I've had notes here and there and finally have decided to put them all together. I aim to build good OCs as well as try to stay as close to the Transformers lore as possible. There will be a mix between Comics, Cartoons (TV Series) as well as the movies, so please understand that it is not a purist writing.**

**I am by no means an accomplished writer. I write for pleasure, I write because the story just begs to come out and it keeps playing in my mind until I lay it on paper. Also this is an MA story. Please keep that in mind. **

**The Story will follow the path of Vanessa as she experiences a wide range of life altering events, ranging from a steep descent to madness, her partial recovery, the discovery of love and the realization of what must be given up in order to secure it. **

Lights, bright lights, one after another cycled overhead. Ears were ringing and everything hurt. Shadows, more lights, maybe people, maybe angels, demons, everything crowding and crawling in front of half closed, dirt clogged and blood shot eyes. There was no way to describe how every limb felt. Solid led would have been lighter and easier to move than one little finger. And the chest, the stomach, the pain was so deep, so sharp and tangible that she thought someone was cutting her open right then and there. There was blood everywhere - on her clothes, on her face, the metallic taste so very predominant in her mouth that if she could, she would have gagged. She had to have been bleeding profusely. That familiar warmth washed over her followed by spells of acute cold and chills that shook her to the core.

"I'm dying…" she thought.

Darkness settled in and the pain… well it just disappeared.

* * *

><p>Doctors rushed in and out of rooms like swarms of bees in and out of a colony. They hurried along, triaging patients as they went, running from surgery to surgery, getting people stable before moving on to the next desperate soul that was clinging to life without much hope. Death filled the air and mixed with the stench of smoke, gunpowder and dust. This was war. Maybe it was won for now, or maybe it was just a moment's breath before all Hell would break loose on this pathetic little rock called Earth.<p>

Many weeks, months even would pass as this city would rebuilt itself, just like any other damaged by the rage of the Decepticons fighting over the AllSpark.

And so those months did pass, with people putting their lives back together, governments scrambling to get policies and procedures in place that would actually assist them when the fight would return. It was not a matter of IF, but a matter of WHEN. And so, N.E.S.T (Non- Biological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty) was put in place, and the remainder of the Autobots lined their forces with world governments to assist in defending their new home, our home.

For one man however, time seemed to stand still. Connor Bradly barely had left the side of his fiancé's bed through the weeks that followed the incident in center city. As a result, she had been placed in a medicated coma to assist her body to recover from the sustained injuries. He was fortunate to work with her inside the Information Operations Center Analysis Group within the CIA. As a result, everyone there knew their involvement in the war that had subsided. Not one person expected him to be anywhere else, not after what had happened. He continued to provide any Intel he could to N.E.S.T as the weeks passed, but his main focus was her, and he didn't make that a secret.

His hands came together to rub his tired face, and he felt the scrape of his 3 day old stubble, which was threatening to turn more and more into a beard. It wasn't that he did not care for his appearance, because he most definitely did, but right now, it felt as if leaving her was a crime, and as such, everything else, including his own wellbeing, came second. His piercing green eyes glanced over her frame, so small and fragile, chest slowly rising and falling not by any will of its own, but by the machines keeping her alive. It had been 3 weeks, 3 weeks of pure agony for the man who watched his heart wither away in a hospital bed. That delicious black silky hair had lost its shine, her skin had turned a cold, pale white, her face drained of color and life.

BEEP BEEP BEEP! The monitor screamed and startled him. Connor jumped up from his seat, pain shooting through his legs from not having moved in so long.

"NURSE!" he screamed as loudly as he could before leaning in close to her " Come on Nessa…come back to me" he whispered as the nurse rushed in the room and almost pushed him out of the way.

"She's doing it again" said the woman with a concerned look on her face.

"Again ?" asked the doctor who followed her in. " Don't increase the drug dosage. Hook up the sensors. I want to look at her brain activity. Something, something is trying to wake her up, almost rejecting the meds" said the older man, Doctor Stevenson.

"Do you think is the shrapnel in her body?" Connor asked in a faint whisper, before slouching back down in the uncomfortable hospital arm chair that had served as his bed and Lazy Boy for the past few weeks.

"It could be anything" the doctor replied and assisted the nurse with the brain activity sensor placement " What ever is in her, is not of this world. We can't take it out, and we don't know what it does" he continued for the hundredth time. He knew Connor was just worried, and he would gladly remind the Special Agent of his fiancé's predicament as patiently as he could. Who wouldn't understand that pain?

**Please review. This is really a story meant to bring some peace to my own mind. I appreciate you taking the time to give me your input. Please be polite and constructive. I will be ever grateful for that, and I want you to know that I feel humbled and incredibly fortunate to have any of you read my work. **


	2. Chapter 2 - Through the Twilight

2. Through the Twilight

The sun was blinding, it was warm and yet it felt so artificial, so foreign. Vanessa looked at the ground. It was dark, crumbly beneath her bare feet. FEET! What in the world was this? She bent down and looked at her toes. She wiggled them and stared at them in complete disbelief. Then she heard rumble in the distance. As she looked up she saw the sky rolling with thick clouds, dark and menacing as if the world was trying to tear itself apart. Home… this is home. Those jagged rocks reaching for the heavens were uninviting, and yet she walked to them, stumbling over the rough terrain, feeling something like pain. She felt so fleshy and weak. The city was still showing in the distance, as rough as ever, and still calling for her. When her feet hit water she stopped and looked down. What was this? This body. She reached up to touch her stomach, slid her hands up her bare skin over her breasts. So soft… Her flesh... this was flesh… this was warm.

"Why are you standing there?" called a rumbling voice as an Autobot rushed to her, his exoskeleton gleaming in the dim light. His bright green optics were locked on her, helm tilted to the side. "Are you going to move? Come on sparkling" he said and extended a servo to her.

Vanessa was frozen in place. She looked at him with wide eyes and reached out her hand to touch him. That familiar feel of the lukewarm metal made her smile. Sparkling… she was no sparkling. Wait…what would that even mean to her? Her mouth opened to say something but she couldn't, as if she had no voice, as if the words were strange to her and she couldn't utter them.

And then the Autobot was gone. There was a feeling of emptiness deep inside her soul, and she felt like she wanted to crumble in a pile and cry. Nothing made sense. Her body was strange to her, and her mind did nothing to help the confusion. Things that were normally familiar, now were foreign, and vice versa. She started running. It was clumsy and silly and she fell every other step. The dirt beneath her was shaking, and every time she tried to get up, the rumble made her fall again. Another Autobot passed her and stopped looking at her a bit confused. Her frail hand reached out to him, or her… she couldn't tell. But this one wanted nothing to do with her. It pulled back and carried on as if nothing happened.

* * *

><p>"How is she?" Connor asked and looked over the monitors.<p>

"Her brain has gone into overdrive. It looks like she is awake, and yet she is asleep. I can't tell if she is dreaming, or simply wide awake. It's so strange" the doctor continued and kept his eyes glued to the monitors.

"What in the world is going on with her?" came a mumble from the nurse as she shifted in her chair and leaned over to check on the machines. "Look at this. All her vitals are good, normal, everything is as happy as can be. You could say she is just doing a sleep study, not being a damn coma"

* * *

><p>"St… STOP!" her mind screamed but when her lips parted something else came out. It was crinkled sound, mechanical and artificial sounding.<p>

Her hands covered her face, and she dropped to her knees. Matted hair clung to her face, but it felt out of this world. Somewhere in the distance the rumble seemed to come closer until the sky lit up with the mushroom cloud of an explosion. The woman scrambled to her feet and took off in the opposite direction of the explosion. It felt as if she was slow, as if everything was working against her. That damn body was useless. Where was the metal, where was the ability to control every little cell within her, to make herself explode towards the clouds, or to slam her frame into the ground with tremendous energy and make the earth crack beneath her? Then the noise hit her ears. Piercing, deafening, and it was the most mesmerizing sound that ever came to existence. She stopped. Slowly she turned to watch what was coming for her. The cloud of dust rising in the air, her hair getting pushed back by the wind blowing straight at her, and the heat- that heat was almost palpable. One frail hand reached out in front of her as if that would shield her from the impending doom of her nightmare, and then out of nowhere, she was swept off her feet.

" No more… no more for ya littl' one…" whispered a voice.

Her eyes opened again to stare up at another Autobot. His face plates were inches from her as he held her little naked frame in the palm of his servo. Startled she looked up, then scrambled towards the edge of it and looked around his digits. Sun ? How could this be ? How could she be in a meadow, how could she be looking at the most breath taking sunrise over the canyon. There was nothing to say, nothing that could express the warmth and safety that she felt in that moment. The view was spectacular, out of this world. The red rocks sprawled for miles on end in front of her, inviting and teasing, willing to conquered and explored. That warmth of the sun was making her want to melt, and that gentle breeze was so refreshing that she simply laid back in his palm and closed her eyes.

"Ya can't just go 'xplorin' like that sparklin' " said her protector. "Tappin' inta other's spark's dangerous fer a young mind like yers. "

Young? Sparkling… again that damned word. And even though nothing made sense, all she wanted was to sink inside this giant machine in front of her. She would have been happy to melt into its very essence and never come out. Her hands reached out to him, still unable to speak words, but chirping metallic sounds that must have amused the behemoth before her. He leaned in and let her nuzzle her face against his plates, chuckling, while hot air blew from his vents towards her.

"No more…time t' sleep littl' one" was the last thing she remembered him saying.

* * *

><p>"It's gone" the doctor jumped almost startled by the quiet displayed by all the machines around her.<p>

Connor rubbed his temples and groaned. " This makes no sense."

"Agreed. But now we have some data. If she wants to wake up, maybe we need to let her. Her body has repaired, except for the shrapnel inside of her. Nurse why don't you go and do a shift change with Emily and let her know what the new plan is for our Sleeping Beauty", Dr. Stevenson suggested before turning to Connor. He walked over to the man and placed his hand on his shoulder "We will find out what is going on… I promise"

**Please review. This is really a story meant to bring some peace to my own mind. I appreciate you taking the time to give me your input. Please be polite and constructive. I will be ever grateful for that, and I want you to know that I feel humbled and incredibly fortunate to have any of you read my work.**


	3. Chapter 3 - Breaching the divide

3. Breaching the Divide

" Despite you not being an overly talkative one, it appears that you have found an even deeper silence" , Ratchet commented to Ironhide, while scanning the Autobot for any damage. " Have you recharged lately?" asked the medical officer and stepped closer.

"Knock 't off!", came an abrupt answer from Ironhide and he waved his servo in front of him, as if aiming to dispel the scanner frequency and chase Ratchet away.

"Well at least the attitude is still there. You must be ok" he shrugged before returning to gaze at some massive monitors in the N.E.S.T Autobot command center.

For days they had been restless. It was as if something heavy floated in the air. Optimus found little consolation in the temporary quiet that had fallen over Earth. He knew all too well that the fight was far from being done, despite Megatron lying like the Titanic of Decepticons at the bottom of Earth's abyss. Starscream was still out there, as were many other Decepticons, and while those were around, there was always trouble. There was always a power struggle within the ranks, and neither space nor time, nor planet could ever change that.

With that in mind, they were taking shifts along side the military across the world, monitoring the skies, scanning the cities for any sign of autobot or decepticon activity. With the help of some brilliant CIA Special Agents, and their tribal knowledge passed on through the AllSpark, they were able to zero in on particular frequencies and communication patterns within the airwaves. Not only were those tracked, but also any shift in the energy grid was immediately signaled across the world to the N.E.S.T compounds.

Ratched huffed a bit, machine like sound filling the room when he moved, his pede-steps still sounding like thunder against the cold floors. None of the military were used to how that made them feel yet, but they had learned to accept their new allies just as well.

"Now seriously, what has been going on with you?" He finally turned and posted himself in front of Ironhide, who shuffled visibly uncomfortable and huffed at him. " Ever since Optimus has gone on this alert, you have been .. oh how do the humans call it… spacing out. Your spark even feels different. I keep scanning you despite your protests, and I find nothing out of the ordinary, but clearly, something is"

"The need t' shoot ya right now's increasin' exponentially" Ironhide warned and narrowed his optics. " When's the last time we had sparklin's created, harvested?"

"Eons ago… not since the last pulse from Vector Sigma flashed across the world and has released them - when the Autobots were still being born for scouting purposes for the Primes. Odd question. Why do you ask? And well, I am not certain as to when the last one was plucked from the AllSpark"

"Because Ah think there's one close by. Maybe on this planet but the signature's strange. Ah may.. or may not, 'ave linked with it" he almost whispered and then straightened his massive frame. "Nah, Ah must be losin' mah programmin'" he chuckled and waved off the idea.

Ratchet however was not ready to let this one slide. The idea that a sparkling had been brought to the surface through a fissure was a big deal, huge! More could be out there, and it was interesting to know if this one had been harvested, if it had found a host for it, if someone was raising it and training the little one properly. But if a sparkling had been found, it meant that the AllSpark itself was either in a new location after being somewhat melted within Megatron, or it was trying to find a new body. This was not uncommon. It was well known that the AllSpark was not dependent on a host, and that if the host itself, such as the Cube was destroyed, the energy would linger until a suitable place to reside was found.

"Wait a minute" he said and came closer to the weapons specialist " You linked?! You? "

Ironhide sighed, steam and smoke coming out of the ports on his back and his vents, as well as the whine of machinery winding down as he slouched on a large berth and looked up at Ratched.

"Yes, call meh daddy Ah'rnhide " he snarled sarcastically "She … it… what ever it is, linked to me. It is not sure what to do. I found it jumping around from memory to memory and it was terrified. "

"She? How can you tell it is a female?"

" 'Cause it looks human…"

**I am doing this day by day. I will try to post about one chapter a day. Trust me, the story is screaming to come out. I appreciate the time everyone takes to read it. Please stay close by as I will post quite often. To those of you following and adding this story to your favs, THANK YOU. you have my most humble appreciation! **


	4. Chapter 4 - The Awakening

4. The Awakening

**Things are going to pick up more and more from this point on. There will be images that may shock, and scenes that are not going to be the easiest to read, but bare with me as Vanessa descends into madness. Yes there is love, there is desire, passion and heart break, but the road to get there is anything but easy.**

"You look a mess" his mother whispered and ran her fingers through his hair. "Connor, come on. Go home, take a shower, shave, get a decent night's sleep." She added and knelt down before her son as he sat in the chair by Vanessa's bed.

Connor looked up at her and shook his head. He didn't want to leave her, not for one moment, and yet he knew that what his mother as stating was true. He hadn't gotten any better, and since they hadn't increased her medication to sink her deeper and deeper into her coma, Vanessa had been frequently "sleeping" and living in her dreams. He feared she would wake and not find him there. He feared her heart would break with disappointment that he was not as committed as she would have expected him to be.

"There hasn't been any activity in the last 20 hours" said the Nurse as she handed him a glass of water. "Doctor Stevenson will make sure there are people checking in on her on a regular basis. If anything changes, even the smallest of things, we will let you know" she added in an almost desperate attempt to get the man to go home.

People at the hospital felt sorry for him, and yet spoke about his desire to stand by her with utmost respect. There was something noble about a man unwilling to compromise on the things that matter the most, despite what everyone else either hinted or flat out threatened.

There was not going to be a change in her state. The doctor had decided to leave her be, to allow her mind and body to take charge and decide her path, her future. It was up to her to live or die. Relentlessly the man pushed himself out of that dreaded hospital arm chair. He leaned over her and kissed her forehead. It was cold and salty from the sweat that seemed to come and go. Connor sighed painfully and took one last glance at her in that bed. He swung his coat over his shoulder before shaky hands pushed open the doors to her room. For the night he was done. It was late, and he needed a break, despite his protests and stubbornness. Angelica, his mother smiled and welcomes him with a warm embrace as he came into the hospital hallway.

"Lets go home son" she whispered and kissed his cheek.

* * *

><p>"Where are you?" she screamed on the edge of the canyon. The same sounds of mechanical chirping came out, but her mind was speaking words. " I need you!" she called again and started running down the edge of the Grand Canyon.<p>

Her feet kicked up the dust and small rocks. They crackled lightly as they took the seemingly never-ending tumble down to the bottom of the grandiose formation. Vanessa was more and more aware of herself, who ever or what ever she had become. These dreams were keeping her alive, and even though she found little to no familiarity to most experiences, including her own body, she found an uncontrollable need to reach back out to her protector. That autobot's eyes were piercing, bright and comforting. They however, hurt her to the core when ever he gazed upon her, and yet, she could barely survive without him.

"What have I done to you?" breathlessly she cried "Why did you leave me? I need you! " and she fell back to her knees.

The sun was warming her, or so her mind led her to believe. Naked, hair flowing down her back and shoulders, she felt as unnatural as anything. There were not many things she knew, but at this point she knew that she had to find him. Once the panic subsides she stood up. The blinding light made it hard to concentrate on anything other than to shield from it. Step by step, breath by breath, a sort of anger rose within her. There was more to it than to just survive in here. There had to have been more. What was this place? Was this a dream. YES! It must have been. He said it himself, that she accessed memories. A dream… she can wake up from a dream. With the conviction of a holly woman, she stood on the edge of the abyss. Her toes curled down around the side of the ledge and she closed her eyes, arms spread like wings to her side. Vanessa jumped. " I will find you" was the last thing she thought.

* * *

><p>In the darkness … the machines that kept her alive flickered. It wasn't anything noticeable, perhaps a brief fraction of a second, before they settled into the most perfect rhythm that they may have ever seen while hooked up to a living being.<p>

In the darkness…her eyes opened.

**Again thank you so much for reading. Going forward, it will be a bit more entertaining and twisted, and I honestly hope you will enjoy exploring this character as much as I will. **


	5. Chapter 5 - Escape into Darkness

5. Escape into Darkness

**I would like to officially welcome you to the madness. Enjoy :)**

"BREATHE" was the only thought she had right then and there. A mind returned to primal needs, fight or flight being the only instincts that had any relevance at that time. Her body was awake. The AllSpark merged with her very essence had already learned the principles of her body. It had mapped the way every cell worked, the way every circuit in her mind linked. It was all downloaded and re-uploaded into her cerebral cortex, like a computer doing a full restore and reboot from a USB drive. For lack of better words she was running dual boot – human and the AllSpark.

Since she had been confined to the medicated coma, there hadn't been much going on with her body. She simply laid there, not moving in weeks, but fortunately, as the spark within tried to free her from the boundaries of her abundant medication, it also tried to keep her "mechanics" in perfect functioning order. When linked to any biomechanical organism, much like an Autobot or Decepticon, the sparks within had the ability to understand, memorize and control each individual cell, as each cell was a small organism in itself, down to nano-sizes and micro-cells. By comparison, the complexity of the human body was incredibly easy to master. Add a mind that was already prepared, well versed in the understanding of the lore, wired to think, speak and write in the ancient language, and top that with the delicious reality of having a high IQ, and you get the ideal match up. By comparison to most people, who only used a certain percentage of their brain, who were not wired as logically as her, she was a huge upgrade, and a preferred host.

Sadly, at this time, that brilliant human mind of hers was gone, buried within the depths of her consciousness as everything else loaded into memory and only provided basic functions.

"BREATHE!" her body screamed and her eyes open wide scanned the dimly lit room.

She could feel something down her throat, and the lack of oxygen made her go into a panic, as if life depended on getting air, and for the most part it did. Frantic hands raised from her side and tore at the tubes and tape that held the breathing machine connected to her face. She gagged violently, and felt light headed. A surge of adrenaline hit her blood stream and her muscles tensed abruptly. Clumsy fingers curled around the ribbed end of the tube and she just pulled as she slowly sat up, chocking, dry heaving, coughing, but strangely not feeling any pain. As she ripped it out of her, the end of the tube tore against her esophagus, causing damage and bleeding. Finally it was out. She cast it to the edge of the room and then without any control of her motions, leaned over the edge of the bed and threw up. There wasn't much out there to escape her body, but bile and blood came out. The machines that were meant to keep her alive were as calm as ever, as if nothing had happened.

Vanessa could feel them. She could almost touch the electricity within each and every device surrounding her in the room. A quick look at her arms made her cringe. She tore the needles out of her veins, blood now warmly dripping from where the delicate tissue was ripped. When she sat up, her legs gave in. It wasn't because the brain had forgotten how to walk, but because this "mind" of hers had never actually driven this body. Sure it repaired it, but almost like a mechanic restoring a classic, he would never know what it would be like to drive it until the day he took it out for that first test drive.

Slowly she staggered back to her feet. "Easy… like in the dream" she thought and used the bed for support while pulling herself up. Her breathing was heavy, elaborate, and constantly she felt the need to cough the blood that still dripped down the back of her throat. The dream… yes she remembered that, and him. "Where are you?" her thoughts called out to him, but deep inside she knew there was little hope for an answer.

"Get out! Get out now!" was the next important thought to her. Yes she needed to get out. This did not look like a hospital. This was a prison. A prison that spawned bars made up of good intentions, a cell created out of drugs, tubes and needles that maintained her still, locked to a bed without shackles. This was the worst kind of trap.

Bare feet made almost no noise against the cold tile floor. Slowly she opened the door to her room and took a quick glance in the hallway. There was one nurse at a distant station. Easy enough - Without even as much as an effort, a simply thought of distraction came to mind. The phone on the other end of the hall started ringing viciously. It pierced the night with the most annoying of sounds, and the aggravated nurse huffed and puffed her way to the device aiming to perhaps strangle the noise out of it, as if that was possible. Quietly and quickly Vanessa made her way down the hall. Before her eyes she saw maps, hallways, directions, and even if she wanted to understand how she was doing this, she couldn't have. Briskly she followed the desire to escape this tomb filled with machines that prolonged agony. She could smell the sickness in the hospital. It was thick, morbid, and in the wing she was in, many patients were nothing more than shells of their former selves. They had no spark.

* * *

><p>"I'm so excited! And I just can't hide" came the sound of music down the hallway as Bumblebee rolled around dancing to himself to the amusement of some new recruiters who were supposed to train with him.<p>

The young soldiers followed the Autobot like ducklings following the mother duck, and chuckled to themselves while the bot made a goof of himself and overall enjoyed the break from the every day missions. For a while now, the teams took turns with Optimus Prime, based on their objectives, and now,it was Bee's turn to be back at the compound, to spend some time teaching the new soldiers how to fight and deal with the decepticons. The twins were there as well, and mostly Elita-1 loved to hang around and perform her acrobatics for the newbies. Ironhide was out with Optimus, Sideswipe and Rush, as well as Lennox, who still led the forces within N.E.S.T when it came to special operations.

"Bumblebee" called Ratchet and motioned for him and his horde of minions to follow him. "We may have a little something to show your new peons", he added and walked over to the large monitors.

"Hello, is it me you're looking for ?" Bumblebee sang along and Ratchet shook his head.

"I really need to fix your voice box" then he pointed to the readings on the massive screens "You see this? There is a reading of energy very similar to another Cybertronian out there. It is faint, coming in and out, but if it continues, I would like to investigate. "

"I'll be there for you" Bee replied and turned to the soldiers " Walk this way… talk this way" he chirped and rolled his way down the hall.

* * *

><p>The door was stuck and she couldn't push it open. Somehow, the exit door that she found herself before was locked, maybe because it was a back entrance and after hours, they tightened the place down. There was no alarm on this door. Nothing electric that she could even remotely link to, something that she could control. " I have to get out" she thought and pushed her hands against the door. It would not give. Somewhat panicked she took a few steps back and looked around. There was no way to double back, that much it was clear. This was the exit, and somehow where this door stood, a path needed to be cleared.<p>

"PUSH" she commanded to herself, and pressed against it. Nothing happened. She kept pressing against the door and it was unmovable. That anger inside of her rose again, and it melted so beautifully with her panic. It fueled her need and her desire for escape beyond anything humanly conceivable. There was no way she was going to die in there, trapped like a rat, hooked up to machines that held no consciousness and that functioned without self awareness and purpose. No, she was not that, she was better, and if death didn't find her when she jumped off the ledge of the Canyon, death was surely not going to find her here. With every imaginable ounce of strength, and without any constraint of human pain limitation and self conservation, her muscles tensed into one direction, on one absolutely perfectly timed command. One push, one hit, her entire body straining and focusing on one act, and one alone, and the door flew outwards released from its hinges.

* * *

><p>"IRONHIDE!" screamed Optimus before a massive shot hit the autobot straight in the side, sending Ironhide flying into a building.<p>

Optimus rushed to his side, sword and axe drawn. With swift movements he slid from side to side, dodging the decepticon's attack as it swung his mace like weapon for the Prime's helm. One, two, three hits, and before it was all said and done, the behemoth of a robot lay on the ground, helm on one side of the decimated road, chassis on the other.

"Are you alright?" Optimus asked visibly concerned as he assisted Ironhide back to his pedes. "what happened back there ? You seemed as if you were not even here"

Ironhide groaned and slowly made his way back up. He inspected the damage to his exoskeleton, and grumbled something to himself. He felt it, felt her. There was pain involved, but he knew that the young one would not even register it, not yet. It was so brief, and it was impossible to pinpoint where it all happened. They were on the other side of the world, and there was no way she was close.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Fragger got a hit on meh, s'all" he said with about as straight of a face as he could, but a clearly annoyed tone.

His tone was firm and clearly preoccupied, and Optimus knew better than to press further. Whatever it was, Ironhide was not going to talk about it, and even on the off chance that he would open up, it was not going to be now, and in this foreign place.

* * *

><p>The air was cold, the night was dark, and it was lonely. The lights above the street were feeling too artificial, like an intrusion into what was supposed to be a frigid and quiet autumn night. Her body was weakened by the events from earlier, ridden by cold and muscles had torn into her arms and legs. Her current operating state did not allow her to sense any of that, but the feeling of loneliness and the fear had taken a hold of her every so firmly. She ran, or limped, stumbled and scurried like a scared animal, sticking to the shadows. Where she was didn't matter to her. She was alone, bloodied and torn up inside, torn up and trapped inside a body that couldn't handle everything that she was going to throw at it.<p>

The sound of footsteps over cobblestone and through puddles filled the dark alley. A cat startled and jumped while hissing, making its way down into the darkness and the stench. Her breathing was labored once more. Heart was racing. Her breath lingered in the air with each exhale, and yet she felt no cold, no pain, no hunger. Except… except there was hunger for him, need for him.

Vanessa leaned against a large dumpster and slid down to sit against the filthy ground. She brought her knees to her chest and whimpered to herself. Her cries were muffled, but the rage inside was growing again, and already she knew that nothing good ever came when that happened. It was at times like those that her very essence seemed to focus in her chest, and it would emanate outwards, like a pulse of pure life and warmth, and most importantly destruction. Her sobs turned to cries, her cries turned to screams, and when those became unbearable, her hands came to her head and she rocked back and forth howling like a wounded beast. So much pain, so much loneliness… " HELP ME!" she thought.

"HELP ME!" screamed her mind and her fists struck the ground to her side with a wave of energy that dispersed in a circular motion with her at the center. " Help me…" one last whimper before she felt completely exhausted.

Through the darkness she could see little flickers of light and little odd shapes coming her way. They moved awkwardly, unsteady and unsure of their own size. These machines had been touched by her, and she knew it, she could feel a piece of herself within them, as if they were birthed from her very pain. Mixers, a microwave, hair dryer and a couple of toasters slowly crawled to her, transformed into wanna be robots without any experience, without training, unattended and scared just like her. Their chirps sounded like home to her, and she could not understand them fully as they chattered amongst themselves, but they all curled up with the woman, crowded around her body almost like a blanket. It made her feel safe enough to allow herself to close her eyes and perhaps recharge.

"Help me… I need you…" her mind called out to him once more before sleep overtook her battered body.


	6. Chapter 6 - System REstore - Part I

6. System Restore - Part I

**This graphic and it is not pretty. Please keep that in mind when reading this. The purpose is to showcase a dual boot madness behavior, and there's nothing cute and cuddly about it. Promise that in Part II you will get some cuddly... sort of. **

The dawn was foggy and steam raised from the alley up against the buildings. As the rays of sun started to cut through the night, the filth of the city's underbelly became visible. There was nothing pretty and romantic about this part of town, and almost anyone with an ounce of mind would have stayed far, far away. Two gang bangers that happened to stumble down that road, still engulfed in a drunken haze, believed they had hit some major jackpot when they noticed the bloodied woman, passed out on the ground in a puddle, but surrounded by brand new electronics.

"Aww yeah!" he chuckled and poked at his partner "Lookie here man. We have died and gone to mother fuckin' heaven! Bitches and loot included!"

"Yo, shiiit.. Must be dreamin' man! We can make some serious cash on all this shit on the road. Bitch won't care." Added the other man and they moved together to her side. "Grab this shit dude.. fuck… you go put that outta' 'ere and I'm gonna check to see if she's dead or some shit."

The man shuffled his way over to her and knelt down by her side, while his buddy started taking some of the appliances in his arms and pulling them out of the puddle that had gathered underneath. The first one looked over her barely clad frame, and an almost chilling smile crept up his face. She laid there, unprotected, her hospital gown riding up almost all the way over her thighs. Her body was bruised, bloodied, and the tears in her arms where the needles had been were visible, as well as the crimson stains from where she had drained herself into passing out. There were cuts on her hips, her legs, the bottom of her feet, and pretty much everywhere there was exposed skin.

His hand reached out and slowly started lifting her gown, as if the morbidly depraved curiosity which was still fueled by alcohol coursing through his veins, was the only thing that had control of him. Her eyes snapped open, pupils contracting rapidly. There was a quick growl that came from her throat. If she had ever been human, she was not now. There was nothing inside of her that resembled consciousness, but simply primal animal instincts. When her fingers closed around his neck, they sunk into his flesh. She could feel the tightness of his trachea, and before her eyes images flashed, images of her own body, of a human body, layer after layer unveiling before her. Hit here, break there, disarm and disable immediately. Then she pulled. His chocked and muffled sounds filled the alleyway, and then the crunch followed when her fingers sunk through the flesh, and she ripped out his throat.

Wide eyed, gurgling, chocking on his own blood, the man tried to contain the fountain springing from his throat by scrambling back and holding both hands over his throat. Blood was seeping from between his fingers, gushing down his clothes as he now thrashed around the alley and knocked tin cans and trash over in his path. Vanessa was not done.

"HOLY FUCK!" screamed his friend and dropped one of the blenders from his hand. "Bitch you crazy?! " he yelled and pulled out a 45 from the waistband of his shaggy pants. He aimed, and fired and hit her square in the chest, nipped at her right lung and exited out the back. The pain was sharp and her anger rose even more. Before he could let off another shot, the sound of mechanics unfolding to life behind him was heard. He didn't even know what was going on before all the appliances shaped bots proceeded to climb all over him. They shot him, tore at him, clawed at his eyes, scurried all over his body as he fell to his knees. His screams lit up the dawn and they mixed with the sound of torn flesh and clothing.

Vanessa saw her assailant still somewhat moving. She walked over to him, slowly, deliberately. Her eyes scanned him, a clear picture of his body appearing before her eyes. She knew where he was dying, why, and what all was still in one piece inside of him. A quick dismissive glance was cast towards the other man who now lay in pieces against the ground. The small bots were running around each carrying a piece and triumphantly played with what ever trophy they were able to grab. As her attention returned to the dying man before her, she plunged her hand straight into his stomach, right under the rib cage. Her nimble fingers traveled upwards, under the ribs, tearing though the tissue until she found the heart, still beating. Her hand curled up around it and a swift jerk downwards followed by the immediate last exhale of the body under her told her she had accomplished her mission. Vanessa pulled the heart out, still in her hand, and squeezed it as hard as she could. " No spark" she thought and cast it aside.

Frozen eyes turned to the blood dripping down her hand, her forearm, and then down to the ground. She wiped it onto her gown and looked at her shoulder. "Great" she thought to herself while inspecting the wound which was causing her quite some bleeding, and a bit of an issue breathing.

* * *

><p>"We need to go now Bumblebee" Ratchet demanded and then motioned to the motorcycle twins to follow along. Skids poked his head around the corner as well and nodded at the large autobot, a sign that he was going to tag along for the sheer boredom of things.<p>

The medical officer had been tracking the activity for the past day or so, and within the last 30 minutes it had gotten rather hot, and quite entertaining. The signatures were clear, perfectly defined and they were enough to get Ratchet concerned. The autobots had assembled in the large hangar and shifted back into their auto forms, waiting for him to order them out.

"Let's get ready to rumbleeeeee" Bumblebee called out, and as a response, the others revved their engines. Ratchet checked the location one more time and secured an uplink to the compound before snapping back into the automotive form and coming to the front of the pack. They all followed suit in a synchronized purr of motors, with respective holographic drivers and riders appearing for each one of them.

* * *

><p>The commotion had raised the interest of others around the shady neighborhood. Sadly for Vanessa, a bit of a block party had taken place earlier, but by the time she crawled her way down the narrow street, all the partygoers were already passed out from either drugs, alcohol or a sublime mixture of both. When four men walked around the corner, guns in hand, the sight the saw was something out of a horror movie. One friend of their laid dismembered and disemboweled against one building's filthy wall, while the other sported a torn neck and a gaping wound to the stomach. The woman, whose dark long hair was now covered in blood, as well as most of her clothing and skin, stood over the ladder body and watched it in silence.<p>

"Yo bitch!" called one of the guys and pointed the gun straight at her, an action quickly followed by everyone else in the makeshift gang.

Vanessa looked up at him and extended her blood covered hand towards him. From the shadows, her bots spring to life and jumped 2 of the men, while the one looking at her fired one shot, then another and another. They struck her, hit her legs, her arms, one more in the chest. The men began to fight the bots, some tore them apart, others shot them, and in the process gained plenty of impressive wounds themselves. The pain finally settled in her mind. The spark within subsided briefly while it tried to control the damage that her body was taking ever so rapidly. It tried to repair on the fly but couldn't do that, and keep the pain receptors dulled out. That concentration broke, that very desire to survive was replaced by complete confusion, fear, desperation.

Shot after shot, each bullet tearing at her flesh. She fell to her knees and screamed. When the pressure inside her head seemed to subside, another energy burst sprung from her body, and a few more little bots jumped to life and proceeded to terrorize the homes which housed them. They had yet to make it down to the alley.

That madness finally sunk in. It settled so perfectly inside her. Her eyes were blood shot, her limbs did not want to function any more. She wanted to scream out loud, but she had torn the inside of her throat so badly when she pulled the breathing tubes out, that she had yet to heal from it.

Another blast. Blinding light. Sound of mechanical being swarming the street. The thugs started to attack them – she saw that. She saw one of them get dragged into a building by a group of small bots, two more were dead already, and the forth had ran away in pure terror.

"DO NOT FUCK WITH ME!" she thought. That was as human as she got, commanding a language her mind felt comfortable with. Blast after blast of energy pulsated and escaped her. She could see the large autobots get flung back, one after another. Each time the wave was stronger, and each time she hurt more. And then there was nothing but silence.

"Help me" she whispered to herself – her plea to her protector who had forsaken her.

Ratchet walked over and scooped her up in his servo. Quickly he scanned the female and grunted while Bumblebee and the others gathered around him to look at her.

"Aww man, she's messed up. Little sistah got some serious issues! Y'all felt that right? That hurt! " said Skidz .

"We need to hurry back" he said and turned to the others " I have scanned the female and this body is dying rapidly. She has suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and whatever she did, her muscles are torn to pieces" Ratchet handed her over to Bumblebee who tilted his helm and held her carefully. Once the medi bot was transformed back, Bee gently placed her inside the large ambulance, and sprung back into his own vehicle form.

**Thank you for your time and the hundreds of views. Feel free to review, give ideas, input, or what ever you would like. Be polite, and remember, your presence here is very much appreciated.**


	7. Chapter 7 - System Restore - Part II

**First off, please know that I have MISSED being here terribly. New job and new schedule has dulled my inspiration, and I think I needed a little bit of a break to try and regain my rhythm. I promise I will try my hardest not to stay away for so long. **

**On to today's Part II of System Restore. This chapter will be a little more pleasant than the prior, with less violence and more good feelings, as promised. **

"MOVE!" called Ratchet as he tore through the compound gates, the doors to the hangar and then down towards the medical lab.

He had already called ahead and notified the human medics about her rapidly deteriorating condition. She had gone in and out of consciousness several times, and he believed firmly that the last time, she was clinically dead. They had to stop on the side of the road and jump-start her again. It was no secret that the body was done, even though something was off about it, and he couldn't explain it right away.

The medical personnel was frantically running around, and just as he opened the door, they scrambled to get her bloodied frame out, and onto an operating table. Several doctors and nurses hovered around her, stuck needles in her arms, hooked her up to machines and tried their best to stabilize her. However, each time they would hook a machine into her, it would go absolutely wild. None of the readings made sense and it was impossible for them to even administer any medication based on the readings. The head doctor took a step back, hands crossed over his chest as he shook his head.

"This is not human… this makes no sense." He admitted and looked up at Ratchet "We can't help her. We can't even hook her up to something, or give her any meds. She is crashing and there isn't shit we can do. Is she one of yours?"

This thought was not foreign to Ratchet. While driving back, he wondered if the human was human at all. He could sense the Spark inside of her, and he felt the energy surge. He knew what it was, but what he didn't know was how to help her. His eyes scanned her slowly and projected onto a massive screen everything going on inside of her. Doctors and nurses looked up in awe. Some murmured and called for God, as the disaster that was her body was quite impressive. None knew how she was still alive. The other Autobots had cleared the room, but Bumblebee sat quietly in a corner and watched. Slight whining could be heard as he shifted anxiously, and on and off his vents would hiss as air was released.

Mechanical tentacles started sliding around the operating table and wrapped around it. Under the table, a suitcase like device was attached. The gears churning were the only things making noise in the lab, that and the two massive Autobots breathing. Everyone else was silent and watching. Ratchet pulled a capsule like enclosure from one side of the room and brought it over next to the table. Being the proactive genius that he was, he could not let go of the idea that a sparkling was floating around, and if Ironhide was the one suspecting it, then something real was going on. He had created a womb for a sparkling, a place for it to mature and gain strength before being moved into an appropriate exoskeleton. Because he had no idea what it looked like, or what size it was, outside Ironhide mentioning it being human, he constructed the device to fit a normal female. If this was real, and she was merged, this device would have been the one hope for her survival.

Suddenly the display blinked on and off, as well as the lights in the room. Everyone looked up and all around. Bumblebee sprung to his pedes and the sound of his gun shifting out and spinning up was unmistakable. Ratchet looked around and tilted his helm as the sound of glass shaking and small hums became more and more obvious. Once the screen came back on, he realized that the device under the table, a cortex modulator, was hooked into the back of her head, tied into her cerebral cortex and fully linked with her. Autobot symbols scrolled over the screen almost like a system rebooting. But he knew the modulator was not in control. She was.

"Get down!" he managed to warn the humans in the room, and they all ducked in unison as vials started flying from the shelves and glass broke everywhere.

Above her frame, a swarm of metallic dust converged in an orderly fashion, as the body convulsed and thrashed about. Bumblebee rushed to the side of the table, but Ratchet placed a massive arm in front of him and shook his helm. Bumblebee knew to listen, and he lowered his gun.

"Get up…" he motioned to the doctors and walked over to the table to watch her. "She took control of the microbots and the nanites in the lab. She is using it to rebuild herself" he explained and pointed to the screen where a map of her body was showing the patterns in which the tiny robots were working.

"What is she ?" asked the chief surgeon with confusion clear in his voice.

"A hybrid" Ratchet quickly blurted out, but in reality he didn't know either.

Her mind was in rebuild mode, very much like a computer rebuilding the Operating System, working at a registry level. It dumped information into the core of the cell like bots and sent them on their way to repair what ever tissues they could. There was no way to regenerate the damage, but where the flesh was torn, the bots could replicate and collectively bond with the material. The Spark inside her made sure that the programming was getting transferred from human cell to biomechanical organism, and was running both as an integral part of an exoskeleton. This Spark, the AllSpark itself, was learning a new way to melt living tissue with Autobot and Decepticon technology. There was no way to break the cycle and to pull her out of it. He had to keep her hooked up to the cortex modulator and transfer her over into the capsule. That environment was designed with the sole purpose to keep younglings alive, with stable influxes of energy and moderate conditions in which spikes and abnormalities were not going to interfere with the rebuild process or the growth process. Perhaps when Ironhide returned, he could check to see if this was the one he was looking for.

Massive servos slid under the table, and a soft electrical pulse caused the legs of the table to snap shut underneath it. The capsule hissed open, and he placed the table inside upright. Clasps snapped into place and autonomous links and hoses locked up to her body as if they had a mind of their own. Instinctively the parameters of the capsule's environment triggered core responses from her boot sequence and got assimilated in the process, almost like a software driver being requested during an install. He stepped back and watched the glass door slide over her, then heard the sound of the seal locking into place.

"We just wait now" he informed them.

**You know the drill. Thank you a billion times for reading! Soon Miss Vanessa will get to meet Ironhide, and I do promise you quite the entertaining get together with the fiancé. **


	8. Chapter 8 - Alchemy

8. Alchemy

**The time has come to actually get these two to meet. I do not know which way Vanessa is going to go. I genuinely allow the character to write itself and I simply speak for it. So if you were to ask me how this story will unfold, at this time I would be unable to tell you. So enjoy the journey with me, as we discover her together ****J**

The panic that had ensued at the hospital was almost indescribable. Police officers was scouring the building and the nearby area looking for Vanessa. Her fiancé was in a total panic, and no matter how hard he tried to revert to his agent training, he found it impossible. His family was along his side, talking to the police and the investigators. Military got called in especially once reports of the dismembered bodies came in. They wondered if this was not the work of Decepticons who wanted her for the information she had on the Allspark and her ability to read the ancient languages. With them you never knew, and as Optimus had warned several times prior, the war was never really over.

* * *

><p>No one had to tell him where to go. Ironhide knew the way and he was almost on a mission. He knew it the moment he had gotten close to the compound. That feeling of her presence was there. Optimus had felt something as well, but it was Ironhide's attitude, him speeding past the leader of the convoy and almost busting through the front gates, that confirmed something was happening.<p>

"You alright there big guy?" asked Lennox while still behind the wheel of the massive pickup. He was visibly concerned about the way his Weapon's Officer was acting.

"Get out" thundered the truck and Lennox scrambled to jump out of the car as the door flung open. The man stumbled to his feet and got out of the way of the Autobots while they drove in. The other trucks carrying his men pulled up beside him as the soldiers started to unload. He narrowed his eyes and watched Ironhide not skip a beat and transform mid stride as he headed out to the Med Lab with Optimus in tow.

"Perfect timing" stated Ratchet and wanted to motion for the others to come take a look. No one cared for introductions.

Ratchet had been monitoring her vitals for 10 hours now, and everything had stabilized. The lights in the capsule had gone dark, a sign that she had gone into sleep mode. The mapping of the microbots inside her still showed repairs going on, but for the most part, it appeared that at least the structural damage was repaired. She was at 30% mechanical components after her little adventure, but at least she was alive. In the time she was out, they had managed to isolate her signal, and it became obvious that there was a shard of the Energon cube lodged inside her heart. They could only suspect that this had occurred once the cube was merged with Megatron's spark, and that the resulting energy blast might have splintered it, causing It to gravitate to her as a suitable new host for the energy within.

No one knew in what state her mind was. Ratchet could not even speculate to that. Was it the Spark in charge, was it the AllSpark itself, was it her own consciousness or a combination of the two? Was she running autonomously, or still in a rebuild mode, with limited interaction to the outside world? He dared not attempt linking with her. Back in the alley, the display of power was more than enough to make any of the bots leery enough and cause them to keep their distance. Well most of them anyway, because Bumblebee was inexplicably fascinated with her, and refused to leave the capsule's side the entire time.

Ironhide stood there, a few feet away from the capsule and grumbled to himself. One might have believed that he was somewhat nervous. Optimus transformed behind him, the sound of his form shifting filled the room with the delicious symphony of a perfectly designed mechanical body. Under the cover of his transformation, Lennox slipped in quietly and tapped Optimus' leg to make his presence aware. Optimus shook his servo at him in a motion to remain silent, and watched Ironhide intently.

His massive servos gripped the sides of the capsule and rotated it to face him fully. He sighed, dark smoke puffing up in the air as he knelt down and placed his forehead-plates against the glass door, optics winding shut. More people poured into the room, doctors that were equally intrigued and scared of what was residing in their lab. They all watched.

All of a sudden the lights inside the capsule came on, bright, almost blinding, pushing the bulbs to the breaking point, and the sound of flesh and metal hitting glass filled the room. Bright blue eyes peered from behind the glass cover and both of her hands were pressed against the inside of the glass towards his face as if trying to break through and get to him. Ironhide was actually startled and pulled back an inch, his optics opening rapidly to look at her. Ratchet pushed past some of the doctors and went to review the readings on the big monitor, while side scanning her body for any issues. "She is rebooted" he murmured.

The hoses and clamps that held her were now sliding back into their housings and releasing her body. She was simply resting against the table, leaning back but almost vertical. The glass door slid open and her delicate hands reached out for him, for his face. If there was anyone else there, in that moment they all slipped away from their reality. Ironhide leaned in, and those warm tiny hands touched the metal of his face-plates. He gasped, as much as a robot could, and his entire frame instantly relaxed in front of her. He leaned in even more, making it easier for her to reach all areas of his face.

"I swear if she gonna kiss that ugly mug I'm gonna hurl" Skidz commented and was quickly met with a loud crack upside the helm from Bumblebee who flat out snarled at him. Optimus cast him an unforgiving glance.

The table like stand she was on pushed forward and further out of the capsule. Now, she guided his helm further down towards her, and she placed her forehead against his lip-plates, hands on each side of his face. Her eyes closed and she exhaled loudly.

* * *

><p>"What do I do?" she asked a little confused while holding his hand.<p>

He looked human, nothing like the machine before her. Tall, perhaps overly muscular with long black hair and braids that were coming from each side of his temples. There was a scar on his cheek, and several down his chest.

"This makes no sense to me" she added and leaned against him.

He wrapped his arms around her while pulling her down to sit against the one massive tree in the area. This place, for whatever reason, always came up in her mind whenever she linked with him. One tree, old as the earth, with a massive crown that cast a welcomed shadow under an unforgiving sun, and which was located way too close to the edge of the canyon, the Grand Canyon. The sky was bright, but there was no discernable sun. His appearance was just her human mind's reading of his attitude, perhaps a conversion assisted by the AllSpark which took the Autobot's exoskeleton features and mapped them to known images in her human mind, accurately proportionate and viable. Her naked back leaned against his chest, but she couldn't feel warmth. She did however, feel absolute safety as massive arms entrapped her in an embrace and just held her tightly.

"Ah don't 'ave an answer fer ya" he admitted while leaning his chin on the top of her head. "But Ah do know ya need t' dream up some clothes for yerself. Ah'm sure that's suppos'd to happen. You even came up with pants for me" he snickered.

Vanessa shrugged and looked down at her body, her human body. Her mind struggled to understand why all this was happening, and what part of her was her, what part was the spark. She felt no real connection to her form, and it appeared to be nothing more than a shell. But what she did feel, was a sense of recharge and power that was addictive, each time she was around him.

"Ah tell ya what. We can't stay locked up in 'ere for'ver" he added and turned her to face him.

She sat between his legs now, facing him, her own legs crossed Indian style, and her arms were crossed over her chest, while her face was ever so beautifully adorned with a smirk.

"We can't stay here because?" she asked almost sarcastically before rolling her eyes "I can't function there. I don't know who or what I am. I have memories of both worlds and they fight in my head, and scream and tear at the very fabric of my reality. It's like there is more to me than a Spark, and more than this human body. It flips back and forth and I have no control." She stopped and looked at him. One hand reached out to touch the side of his face, fingers trailing over his scar, and down over his lips " I know this isn't real, and I can feel it in the back of my mind on how it should feel.. and I don't want to touch this flesh, I want the metal, the logic, the well organized structure that we.. that you are. And yet.. here I am… reaching out to you, feeling compelled to just touch you all over because somewhere, this mind knows what it feels like to be human. "

Ironhide wrapped his fingers around her hand and placed it back in her lap, still holding on to it.

"This… Ah ain' good a' this, ok?. Ah'm good at killin' and blowin' stuff up, ah'nd being an overall smartaft. Yer spark an' mine, they're linked. Slag if Ah know how. Ah'm not the fatherly ah'nd nurturin' kind. Ah 'ave no idea how the heck this 'appened ta us, ah'nd why, but Ah'm tryin' ta help, darlin' " he grunted to himself and then perked up "Optimus would know… ya feel more like him than like meh." He continued and smiled at her. It was a compliment after all. She did feel more like a prime than a regular Autobot, and the power with which she always sucked him into this reality was quite fascinating. "We 'ave to go" he added.

* * *

><p>"Do you have ANY idea who this is ?" Lennox asked and pointed at Vanessa, still in her linked state with Ironhide. He was clearly unhappy about it.<p>

"Yes, I do, strangely enough" Optimus admitted and folded his arms over his chest plates with the ever familiar metallic hiss of his body. "I have worked with her and her mate when we got here. Quite a brilliant mind"

"Yes! Which is why I'm thinking that the shard chose her for a new host. All that knowledge actually makes sense to her. Her brain is already wired to digest it and understand it" Ratchet added almost as if a revelation had hit him. "This is how she commands the energy when her human mind is shutdown. But Optimus…she, it, whatever this is, feels more like you in its signature, than like Ironhide and I"

"Oh come on! You don't get it!" Lennox exclaimed and walked over to her. He turned to look at Optimus and Ratchet while pointing with both hands at the two who were in their own little reality "This is not good! There is metal in her! On her.. this is some half breed, mixture, love child of Skids and an Amsterdam hooker like deal. This will cause sooo many problems for us. The CIA will be all over us so damn fast, and so far up our asses, that we will need the fucking jaws of life to pry them out of us!"

"Calm down Major" Optimus interjected. "There is no need to panic."

"He is correct" added Ratchet. "We just need to teach her how to boot up in her human mind, while maintaining control of her spark" he looked at Optimus who narrowed his optics.

"Well, I suppose I might as well reintroduce myself", he then looked at Ratchet "Shut her down. I need to speak to Ironhide before we determine how to proceed."

Ratchet moved closer to the capsule and hooked himself up into the controls. The Cortex modulator was still attached. Optimus knew how to shut down a Sparkling, even that of a prime, and within moments, his own energy overtook her functions, forcing her to go limp and almost fall from her standing position, but for the quick movement of Bumblebee who held her up with his servo and waited for the clamps in the capsule to take hold of her body once more. A light groan came as Ironhide opened his optics and looked at her fragile frame. He seemed almost sad, and to Bee's confusion, he appeared reluctant to leave her side. A quick glance was exchanged with Optimus, and he got up, slowly moving towards him. Lennox was frantically talking, but he couldn't hear the human. His right arm shifted and wined into the massive gun as he pointed it at the man. Lennox threw his hands in the air and stepped back "Touchy ain't we" he grumbled.

"We must talk" Optimus gravely announced, and the other Autobot nodded in understanding.


	9. Chapter 9 - My Brother's Wife

Chapter 9 – My brother's Wife

Bumblebee posted himself next to the capsule and shifted back into his alt mode. He was simply resting there, and his headlights flickered off. Lennox walked over past him and tapped his hood as a Good Night sign before walking out of the compound. There was no point in him lingering around. Optimus had made his decision that he was going to take over the situation, and he was going to handle Vanessa as he saw fit. After all, what was Lennox to do? At this point in time she was more of an Autobot than a human, and even if he had even thought of trying to assert his authority over her, she probably could have killed him in a heartbeat. He was proud yes, but he was not stupid.

"She will be fine", Ratched informed the medical team as he monitored the capsule. "Optimus has shut her down and put in an override. Without his coding, she will not come out of sleep mode"

The medical staff grumbled something and shuffled out of the room. In the end it was clear. If she was to somehow come out of that state, there was not a damn thing any of them could do to contain her, and given the gamble on what mind was booting up, it made for an unsafe situation. It was best to leave this to the experts, even if they were 10ft tall alien robots.

* * *

><p>Optimus walked outside the hangar and looked up at the sky, arms crossing over his massive chest-plates. Ironhide followed closely and remained silent. Too much was going on through his processor. The air was cool, almost cold and cutting like a knife. He had a feeling of emptiness inside that was consuming him. There were flutters inside his spark that made him want to shiver, sending ripples of electricity through his body. He grumbled a bit to himself, and warm air escaped his vents.<p>

Optimus turned to look at him, his optics narrowing. He knew right then and there that the two of them had linked, perhaps their sparks had come together a little too fast, and a little too much, and he also knew she was different and held the potential to be a Prime, a grade above the rest simply by how he suspected she had been forged. Somehow the AllSpark had spawned a sparkling under strange conditions, and this was unheard of. These had been no fissure, there had been no altering event that would have been able to channel that, and yet there she was, a cacophony of human biological material and autobot nano technology that somehow had fused together, learned and adapted to grow around the shard inside her body. She should have died, and yet she was alive, and strong… very strong.

"I am sorry I had to shut her down while you were linked. That feeling of emptiness inside you is going to dissipate before long. But we could not risk it. We cannot risk the lives of all the humans around us for the hybrid" explained Optimus and gazed at his friend.

Ironhide sighed and tried to appear unaffected. "Needed t' be done"

"Yes, it did. Unfortunately, in not the most delicate of ways" Optimus added and took a few steps around the parking lot. "We need to figure out how to bring her back" he continued with a somber and concerned tone to his voice. " I have to suppress the Autobot inside her and try to bring back the human. The longer she is suppressed, the harder it will be for her to ever function normally"

"What if she can't handle it? The human mind is weak, easeh t' sway" the massive robot grumbled and looked at Optimus concerned " When Ah'm with it… her… there's no human element. Except…"

"Except what?" Optimus prodded.

"Our bodies. Her mind, that subconscious level crap that Ratchet was yapping on, makes us look human. However she interpreted us when we worked with 'er, however 'er mind thought us up to be if we were men." Ironhide continued and grunted in frustration. "Screw it… ya just gonn' 'ave to get in there ah'nd see"

Optimus nodded silently and moved one massive servo under his chin as if he was thinking. He paced around a bit under Ironhide's anxious stare. The night was filled with the sound of the two Mechs moving around, and everything else seemed deathly quiet. The desert was not alive tonight. It stood still as if expecting the world to change right atop of it.

"How close are you?" he asked while stepping up to Ironhide and looking him straight in the optic.

"Too close" he answered with a grunt and turned to walk away.

* * *

><p>Ratchet tapped Bumblebee on the roof and motioned for him to get out of the room. A light rev of the motor came as the lights flickered on and the smaller autobot did not argue. He quietly slipped out of the room as Optimus walked in. It was obvious that the Prime was concerned, perhaps even conflicted. He didn't even acknowledge the little one while he made his way inside the medical hangar. Ratchet watched Optimus make his way over to the capsule. He wondered how long it would take him to bring her back online, as the human mind that still lingered in the depths of her brain. And then it occurred to him, that this human body, this now fully functional and demented hybrid was after all one of the only potential prime females within at least this solar system that he still knew of. And out of all the autobots in the world, she somehow ended up with Ironhide as a guide and a potential meld partner. If anything, this was going to get quite interested. Instinctively, a Prime's spark was going to be attracted to another Prime, and the sheer power that the little one was able to unleash untrained, was enough to make Ratchet quite concerned not only for the safety of the human, but for the safety of the other Autobots.<p>

"I need to wake her up" Optimus announced. "We must clear this building in case things do not go as planned. Wake the humans up and get them out of the medical ward. Move all the other patients as well"

"Affirmative"

The hangar came alive as people rushed in and out of the room. Optimus nodded at them patiently while he stood next to her capsule. Voices filled the room. They were all over the place. Soldiers coming in, helping the doctors move people out, carrying medical supplies and a few watching Ratchet and Optimus now quietly discuss in a corner about what they were going to do.

"You are going to wake her up aren't ya Big Guy" major Lennox asked while walking up to the two Autobots amidst the commotion.

Optimus nodded at him " We have to". One massive servo motioned towards the capsule " I can go inside her mind and suppress the spark. It should allow us to bring back the human element and see if she is even there…or what is left"

"That your polite way of saying you need to check if she's nuts ?" Lennox asked and shrugged "She eviscerated one guy and commanded an army of little demented autobots to disembowel 3 more. I'm pretty sure Fucked Up is more plausible status"

Optimus grunted at him and shook his helm "That was the spark in self preservation. Call it new born madness. " he continued " But understand that what she has become now can either be an asset, or a threat to us all"

"Seriously? Fucking great man" the major threw his hands up in frustration "I need to call her fiancé, and I need to report this. You know, somehow, no one has said a damn word about her since she got here yesterday. And that is impressive… makes me wonder who they fear more… you or the Feds"

"You humans thinks too much about … politics" the Prime commented before looking around at the now almost empty hangar. "I am going to wake her shortly. I suggest you take your leave now"

Lennox folded his arms over his chest and shook his head" Hell no Big Guy. I'm sitting my ass right here for this one. She knows me. Might not be a bad thing if you are waking up the human side to actually, you know… have a fucking human around?"

Ratchet nodded and placed his servo on Optimus' shoulder "Perhaps the Major is correct"

Optimus moved slowly and deliberately. Everything he did was calculated and it seemed painstakingly obvious. His large servos spun the capsule around and he nodded at Ratchet who slowly started powering it up. Optimus reached behind the capsule and pulled out a rather thin but long tendril that he hooked behind his audio receptor. The soft clicks of little gears locking into place echoed through the room. He exhaled loudly and knelt by the pod while the lights inside came on. The woman looked so peaceful laying there. He could see the shimmer of metal under the pale and thin skin, in spots where the nanites had gone in and redesigned her body with transformium to be able to repair and sustain itself. She was still maybe 70-80% flesh, but part of her insides had been fused together with the metal now, and functioned as one. Strange how the spark had learned and shifted information from the human genome to adapt to the autobot knowledge. The more it spent time inside of her body, the more it learned, the more it changed and gathered knowledge that was invaluable to the species. All of that could be transferred over to another Prime by simply linking with them. Optimus knew this, and the more he looked at her, the more he realized that the hybrid femme before him was not going to have a peaceful life.

"Load her up" Optimus stated and Ratchet turned on the code transfer.

The Prime closed his optics in his kneeling position and placed both servos alongside the capsule. On the wall screens to the side Lennox watched millions of lines of code, all in the language of the primes slide up like a symphony of symbols. No words were spoken at the time. Her vitals were stable and Ratchet nodded in approval as time passed by. Optimus' vents were shallow, almost like a cadence of a well-tuned engine, but there was also something peaceful in the way it filled the room.

Lennox had no idea how long it took to bring her back up. He never took his eyes off of them, and never bothered to look at a clock. All he knew is that all of a sudden, Optimus stood and the pod door hissed open. He motioned for Lennox to come closer. The man did so and immediately looked away, realizing that she was absolutely naked. He quickly looked around and found a blue blanket.

"Can you tip this back?" he asked pointing at the pad that she was strapped to almost vertically.

Optimus moved his servo in front of it, small cracks of energy filling the air as little tendrils slithered from around the back of the pod, just like the day she was placed in it, and coiled around the pad. They pulled it out, the woman still attached to it. Ratchet moved over and slid his servo under the bed fixture, slowly moving her over to one of the support structures made for the pad. The legs jacked up and snapped into place on each corner of the bed. Lennox walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a couple of pillows that he quickly placed under her head, and adjusted the blanket over her naked body.

"You know, I get it that you guys have no idea of nakedness, but if you are waking up the human, clothes might get ya a little further" he whispered to the two Autobots.

His words were somewhat ignored since there were more pressing matters at hand. He leaned closer to her and whispered her name. Optimus knelt by the side of the bed and watched, while Ratchet kept a steady optic on the monitors.

* * *

><p>The headache was absolutely mind blowing, and there was no way to ignore it. What ever sleep she had been in, was clearly wearing off and the need to claw at her brain was overcoming the need to rest. Her eyes slowly opened, heavy and painful. She saw Lennox standing just a few inches from her, and everything seemed to come back in waves. Her body jerked out of reflex as the memories of Chicago were flooding her and that fight or flight feeling kicked in. However, as she struggled against that sensation, she realized that she could not move and that she was tied down. Panic set in immediately.<p>

A heavy servo was placed atop of her stomach and chest, almost completely covering her. Lennox looked up almost in shock, Optimus almost snarled, but that one motion settled her like a sedative. Vanessa looked up, her eyes wide, mouth barely open, breathing heavily and breaking into a sweat and yet it was completely ok. That feeling of heavy pressure, the cover the giant hand offered, the smell of the metal and the fluids within, everything was so familiar and calming.

"It's ok sparklin'… Ah'm 'ere" rumbled Ironhide.


	10. Chapter 10 - Hello Darkness, my Old Frnd

Chapter 10 – Hello Darkness, my Old Friend

When the call came in, he felt as if the earth had cracked open beneath his feet and swallowed him whole. Connor staggered backwards and fumbled with his hand to find a stabilizing point before sinking against the couch. His mother rushed to his side and sat down quietly, wide eyes asking a million questions to which she knew he had no answers.

"Yes, thank you Sir" he mumbled and slowly lowered the phone away from his ear. "They found her"

"Who? Where is she ?" asked the woman with both hands no placed firmly over her son's.

"Military has her. The Autobots found her." He whispered and looked at his mother with tears in his eyes "She is alive. She is fine. A car will come and pick me up in the morning" he added. " I need to pack"

* * *

><p>"Where am I ?" was the first think that ran through her mind. Instinctively her hands reached over the large metal palm that was holding her down and she looked at Ironhide with big questioning eyes. She knew him, she remembered him. And there was Optimus, and Ratchet, and ofcourse the Major who was talking, but she really could not hear him. The weight of Ironhide's palm was enough to keep her calm in a strangely comforting manner, but she wanted to get away so badly. There were metal restraints across her body, and suddenly she heard them hissing as they clanked unlocked and slid under the table. Ironhide slowly lifted his hand and took a step back, while Optimus walked closer and gave him a brief nod.<p>

As soon as she felt the weight lifted off of her, and the ability to move her arms and legs, Vanessa literally jumped off the table to her left side and slid right between Optimus and Ratchet. And then it hit her. She looked down at her naked body, eyes wide with shock and anger that she would be left like that. One quick glance was cast towards Lennox who pointed to a cabinet.

"Robes are in there" he said and then looked up at Optimus and Ratchet "Should I worry now ?"

Vanessa lounged forward and grabbed the blanket that was dangling off the side of the bed and pulled it to her body, somewhat covering herself up. Quickly she made her way to the cabinet, but before her hand could reach for the handle, the woman froze in place. Her fingers released the blanket and it crumbled in a soft pile at her feet. Slowly she stepped forward, her head tilting to the side at her reflection in the 2 way mirror. Hands traveled up her naked form, slowly inspecting the bullet holes which were now perfectly repaired with metal, as well as scrapes, scratches, tears in her skin over her stomach, under her breasts and down her thighs. In the reflection, she could see Optimus and Ratchet stepping closer to her, but her mind was simply not registering it all. She felt short of breath, dizzy, and the room was spinning with her. Her words were silent, and her screams were raging inside her mind, but nothing would come out. She fell to her knees, hands flat on the floor holding herself up and fought the need to through up. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lennox rush to come to her, but one hand pointed at him stopped the man in his tracks. Vanessa shook her head and brought her right hand to her mouth, slid it up her face and then through her hair. A few deep breaths went in and out, and she stumbled back to her feet. Her naked body turned to face them, eyes moving from one autobot to the other, and then to Lennox.

"What happened to me?" asked Vanessa and about gave herself a heart attack. That was not her voice! Hands quickly shot to her throat and to cover her lips. "Why? Major?" she continued "Optimus?! "

"Listen, you've been through some pretty wild shit Ma'am" Lennox stated while stepping past her to the cabinet and pulling out a robe "Here, put this on" he added and handed her the piece of clothing.

She slipped it on and tied it around her waist, then picked up the blanket and wrapped it around herself as well. Ironhide took a step back and remained silent, watching them intently. Ratchet walked up to her and motioned for the monitors behind her " Here take a look"

"You are quite the interesting young female" Ratchet stated as images of her body scans started flickering onto the screen. " What is the last thing you remember?" he then tilted his helm at her "Do not worry about the voice… eventually you will get used to it"

"I…I remember dying" she whispered, with that soft metallic tingle to her tone. "I remember Chicago…You.." she pointed at Optimus "Were chasing Megatron with that one kid, the hell was his name.. .. something…and the Cube… yes" her hands went up to her head and dug through her hair. "I remember coming around a corner trying to cross the street and get back to the scrambler that we had deployed…and then I flew…I couldn't hear anything, couldn't see anything" she sighed and looked up at the screen "Well, and then I woke up here, tied with metal straps to a metal table, naked, with implants…"

Lennox shook his head. He knew this was not going to end well in any shape or form. Apparently her Fiance was going to be enroute come morning, so at the earliest, she would have to put up with that mess mid day tomorrow. Something told him that she may not be as happy to see other humans as they thought she would.

Vanessa stepped closer to the screens and then started running her fingers over the keyboard. Optimus watched intently. She was rested, she was fully recovered and ready to go and her mind had just woken up from a very, very long sleep. A good 7 months had passed since she slipped into the coma, a time during which her health was impeccable, and safe for the little escapade from a few days ago which required her rebuild, she would have been perfectly ok.

"Circuits, metal, metal, stomach, head, bone tissue… Ratchet… what in the actual Fuck did you do to me?" she asked him and looked up at the massive Medical Officer.

"Actually you did that to you" he started.

Over the next few hours they spent the time going over the events of the last few days. Ratchet explained everything that had happened to her body, from the escape and the attack of the thugs, to the need to rebuild herself. He showed her the charts, the dna coding and the change in the genome. Xrays of her body showed her the shard fragment inside her heart, completely surrounded by tissue and thoroughly embedded. He helped her understand how she can't remember anything because the Spark inside her had taken over, but he carefully left out the melding and Ironhide. Through all this, she kept looking at the Weapon's Officer as if something was calling her to him. At a point in time, she needed to address that nagging feeling of emptiness. But not now. No one really kept track of time. Lennox eventually excused himself to get some rest, and briefly informed her that her fiancé will be coming here tomorrow. Vanessa did not have enough time to register that, and she filed it in the back of her mind, along with all the other information that was pouring in at the time.

"Ok, so assuming this is a viable solution" she started

"It is" Optimus interjected

"Ok fine… since this IS the viable solution for me, and I am now, 25% transformium…what the hell does this make me. What am I?" the woman asked.

"A potential Pr'ahme…" Ironhide almost whispered from the back of the room.

Vanessa looked at him shocked. She walked past all the others and straight to him. The autobot backed away a few steps, but inadvertently hit the wall and was stuck there. He sighed, the warm air venting from his body. She didn't have to ask him to do it… he went down on one knee and lowered himself to her as best as he could. Her small fragile hand reached up to him and she touched a piece off of his metal. Her sharp gasp filled the room instantly. Before her eyes images flew by. Sun, canyon, the storm, autobots in primal form running, an embrace, no faces, and then the fall off the ledge. Startled she pulled away from him, her mind racing as she didn't understand what happened. She pulled her hand to her chest and gathered the blanket around her even more.

"I'm sorry… didn't mean to" she started, but the massive robot already was on his feet walking away quickly. She felt horrible. "I didn't… I don't know…" she crumbled to a pile on the floor without strength to take any more of it in.

Ratchet wanted to come to her, but Prime motioned for him to remain put. She could hear him walking towards her, and could feel the vibrations in the metallic floor. He bent over and scooped her up with both palms, as if he was dipping his servos in a bowl of water. Vanessa was sobbing ever so lightly.

"The hell have I done…" she asked him while curling up in his hand like a child.

"There is much to learn about this little one. And I will teach you.." Prime whispered to her. He lifted his servos to his face-plates and looked straight at her "But for tonight, you need to rest…tomorrow…we will begin our work."

Vanessa nodded through tear filled eyes and tried to wipe her face clean. Optimus carried her outside the medical hangar and started to make his way over to the barracks when she about jumped out of his hands. "ugh calm down sparkling!" he said and tightened his grip a bit to hold her down. "What has gotten into you? Crazy human!"

"I need to talk to him!" she called out and pointed at Ironhide. "Ironhide!" she called at him.

The Autobot turned to look at her but didn't make his way over until Optimus nodded in approval. Without rushing, he moved towards them and held out his servo. Optimus did the same and she scrambled over from one mech to the other, then curled up against the metal palm as soon as Ironhide snorted a bit and brought his other servo alongside to make more room. " Ah'll never hear the end 'f this …" he told Optimus. The Prime seemed to smile as he tapped the shoulder of the other "Maybe it is just your personality that makes Primes and Sparklings attracted to you"

Ironhide grunted a bit and wanted to say more, but as he looked in the palms of his servos, he realized she had passed out. Not because she was sick, but because she was exhausted. A feeling of absolute peace washed over him, and his pleading optics focused on Optimus. He had no idea what to do, or why he felt like this.

"Take her to the barracks and have the doctors find her an area large enough for us to be in with her. " he turned to leave and then stopped, half turning his helm towards Ironhide "And yes, you should stay with her tonight…"


	11. Chapter 11 - Prime real-estate

Chapter 11 – Prime real-estate

**Well things will be getting quite interesting. Thank you for being so understanding and following along. It takes a bit to set things up, but boy are we going to have some fun, and I do mean, all kinds of it too :)**

* * *

><p>The sun was warm and welcoming. It made everything feel better. She looked up at it and smiled quietly. She felt arms around her wrapping from behind. A soft little sigh escaped her lips and her eyes closed as she leaned back into the embrace.<p>

BOOM! The loud explosion made her eyes snap open and she looked around confused. The sun was gone, and there was nothing but darkness around. Lightning cracked in the sky and lit the world around her with strobe like frequency. She could see the jagged rocks scraping the skies, clawing at the heavens. The noise was deafening. Silhouettes ran by her and shoved her aside. She stumbled and fell back onto the ground. Autobots everywhere scrambling for safety. She crawled back to her feet one more time, hands getting cut by the sharp ground. Before she knew what was going on, she felt herself pushed forward, her head slammed against the ground and everything went dark, everything went blank.

Oh those lips were delicious against hers. Her eyes fluttered open but she really could not see much. She just knew where she was. At home, in her bed, feeling the silk satin sheets against her naked, hot body. The weight of him atop of her. Limbs intertwined together, hot breath against each other's skin. Connor was there, must have been him. She felt the pressure of him against her, inside her, all around her body. "I missed you" she whispered softly.

There was that sun again, so bright and strong against her face, but the shadow of the tree was making it bearable. Her fingers traced soft lines over his lips. One hand drifted over his long dark hair, fingers twirling his side braid around them. This man, she had never seen in her life, and yet right now, she knew him. He pulled her close to him and looked down at the woman with almost sad eyes. "Aww what's wrong.., my warrior" she whispered and moved her right hand over his face, her finger tracing the scar that adorned his features.

"What the hell?!" she screamed and found herself on the edge of the canyon. The abyss was gaping open under her feet. She wanted to back away but her feet were locked in place, toes curling onto the edge of the cliff. "No… no no!" she cried while her body did not respond to her any more. Arms spread to her side and she jumped.

* * *

><p>"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed and shot straight out of bed. She was soaked with sweat, shivering and oh she felt so sick to her stomach. Vanessa leaned over the edge of the bed and pulled the trashcan over to throw up. She pulled a napkin from the little box on the nightstand and wiped her mouth clean, then took a quick drink of water. Her body fell back onto the pillows of her bed, breath heavy and rapid. The dream was so real, so familiar. It shook her to the core and she had no idea how to handle this. The orange glow of the hazard lights from the large GMC Topkick were softly glowing. She moved to the edge of the bed slowly and whispered "Ironhide… are… you awake?"<p>

The lights of the truck flickered on. He was awake, and had been since she screamed for the first time, but he dared not speak until her voice filled the room. He still chose to remain silent, but the dimmed headlights showed her he was there.

"Do you mind if I curl up with you?" she asked.

Initially he wanted to panic. Curl up? What the hell did the human mean. His human, his sparkling, his instinct to protect and defend. This was so different. He had feelings before, for Chromia, but that was a full blown autobot. This was so strange, at such a different level that it made him absolutely anxious because he had no tactics to cope with the situation. Without thinking it further, he opened the passenger side back door to the cab, a silent invitation. Afterall, it would be far more comfortable for her to sleep in the back, rather than the front seat.

Vanessa smiled and gathered her blanket and pillows in her arms. Quietly, her feet hit the floor and she tiptoed over to him, like a child about to sneak under the covers with her parents. The little delicate frame jumped in the back seat and sprawled all over the cold leather. She gasped, almost catching herself by surprise at the shiver that ran through her the moment she climbed on board. Ironhide felt it too. "Thank you" she whispered and curled up in her blanked, nuzzling against the seats. Ironhide closed the door behind her, and a soft rumble escaped him, almost akin to a purr, that is if the purr came for a giant truck.

He couldn't recharge all night. He just rested there with her passed out inside his crew cab, and that was just perfect. So very perfect. All of this will end. The autobot knew it. As a potential Prime she will not be able to resist following Optimus around the moment he will link with her. But until then, until then he will protect and hold her as she needed. There was no hatred towards Prime, or her. She didn't even know it yet. But he did, and so did the Autobot Leader. Yet now, with her laying there, warming up the leather under her body, he felt more alive and with more purpose than ever before.

His entire being tingled, from the depth of his spark to the top of his paint coat. His sparkling, his curse and pain. And he cherished every moment of it.

* * *

><p>"Master…" Starscream slithered atop of the abandoned building "We have found it"<p>

Megatron looked at his servant with the usual disdain and snarled. He had been on the hunt for the signature for months, and it seemed almost impossible that out of all things, Starscream managed to locate the Energon cube along with the Spark.

"Where…" he asked

"Nevada desert it seems" the subservient decepticon continued.

"Bring it to me!" demanded Megatron before taking off into the sky.


	12. Chapter 12 - De-Fiance

Chapter 12 De-Fiancé

There were no other dreams for her. The night simply went on and blended into the morning. She almost did not move the entire time. When the door of the truck swung open, Vanessa got startled, but strangely enough, not as much as one would expect, not as much as she normally would have. The man stood outside the truck and looked at her quietly. She half raised her head from her pillow, as she had been sleeping face down into it, and looked at him from between heavy strands of messy hair that covered her face almost completely.

"What in the hell do you want?" she asked.

"Well, it is about 1100 hours and you haven't moved, so we needed to check on you. Besides you have visitors en-route" Lennox advised.

"I really want to shoot you right now" she answered and dropped her head back onto the pillow face first. "Go away" she mumbled with the pillow muffling the sounds.

"Shoot me?" he quipped "In that case I am glad that you don't have a gun!" added Lennox and smirked.

"Ironhide…" was all she had to say, and her hand slightly tapped the seat, before the clinking of metal shifting filled the room. From the top of the truck a massive cannon popped and was pointed at Lennox while it quickly started spinning up.

"WHOA! Come on brother… put that away!" he called and stepped back fast. As he backed away he ended up backing into Optimus. "Little help here Big Guy"

Optimus has been standing there for a few minutes and watched them interact with each other. It amused him how bantering the humans were, and even more how much the Autobots seemed like them. Every day he spent there he saw the similarities. They spoke like them more, acted like them, and befriended them so seamlessly. When Vanessa dragged herself out of Ironhide, she looked a total mess. Lennox wanted to chuckle but given that there was still a cannon pointed at him, he just cleared his throat and motioned for her to walk over to the bed.

"If you will let me live long enough" he stated "I have brought you some clothes to change into"

Vanessa groaned a bit and drug her blanket behind her almost like a child, while holding the pillows in the other hand. She walked over to the bed and threw them all there. Her movements were slow, laggy, almost as if she was in pain, but really she was just inexplicably tired. The woman sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled the clothes in her lap. Her hands moved over to her face and slowly she rubbed the sleep away from her eyes before pushing her hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear. Optimus walked closer to her bed and looked her over quietly. Ironhide transformed out of his TopPick form and nodded at the Prime. Vanessa chuckled a bit when she popped back to her feet, clothes in hand, then walked over to Ironhide and tapped his pede. The massive Autobot tilted his helm at her with a questioning glance.

"Come here" she said and motioned for him to get closer to her.

Ironhide cast a quick glance at Optimus who was just observing quietly. He knelt down next to her and lowered his helm towards her. A light "hrmpf" sound came from him while the hot air vented out. Almost like a child, Vanessa raised herself on her tiptoes, grabbed a hold of the bottom of his mouth and pulled his helm further down. He had to plant a palm on the ground to keep himself from falling over atop of her since he did not expect her to pull him down, and even though she would not ever be able to move his body without his consent, he allowed her touch to guide him. Her hand seemed so tiny by comparison to his entire face. A quick kiss landed on the side of his face, right above the round vents on the bottom of his mouth, and then she let go of him.

"Thank you" was all she said to him, and her heart skipped a beat inside her chest. She felt it from her stomach to the tip of her toes.

The Autobot genuinely did not know what to do. He looked at her almost paralyzed in his position. Not a word came out of him, and she was quite alright with that. Vanessa turned to look at Lennox whose jaw had remained opened.

"Yes, I know… visitors en-route… big day… got ya… Now unless you are one of these guys" she added and motioned to Optimus and Ironhide "I suggest Major, with all do respect, that you need to get up and out of here. I intend to take a very, very long shower, change into these "fantastic" clothes, and then talk to Optimus."

Lennox just stood there and wanted to come up with a smart ass answer, but he really could not figure what he was more surprised with: Seeing his Weapon's Officer absolutely turn to putty at the hands of a 150lb woman, or the fact that she sounded almost nothing like the little delicate, timid, agent he had met just a few years ago. It was the sound of Optimus taking a step forward that snapped the man back to reality and he nodded quickly.

"I suppose a gentleman needs to know when he has overstayed his welcome" he stated and nodded at them before making his way out. He had other things to take care of .Quarters needed to be arranged for the poor bastard that was about to compete with an Autobot for his fiancé's attention.

Once she had walked out of the enormous room she called "home" the two looked at each other and Optimus let out a slow chuckle as the other got back up on his pedes.

"Restless night?" he asked.

"Wasn't goin' t' go fer that, but Ah supp'se ya can call it that. Lots 'a screamin'…not the good kind" Ironhide explained and walked about the room. "Eventually she woke up ah,nd Ah almost called R'ahtchet in 'ere. But then this happened… ah'nd she ended up passin' back out inside…Didn't move at all after tha' "

Optimus nodded at him. "I know it was bad. I could feel it. Every time she spikes like that, even with the programing inside, I can feel the spark inside her rise up. Eventually we will not be able to keep it contained. We are going to have to risk it and allow her to just fight it out."

"You're just tryin' t' delay it fer meh" Ironhide calmly stated and looked Optimus straight in the eyes as the Prime turned to face him.

"Perhaps" he sighed "You and I both know what might"

"What WILL" Ironhide almost growled and then shook his head "Screw it… Sorry"

Unmoved by his outburst Optimus continued as if nothing happened. He understood his commander quite well, and had he been in his place he would have been worst.

"Yes, what will happen" He paused for a moment before continuing

"Right now she hasn't felt me. I was not around enough when the spark was on inside her, and for all this one knows, no one matters but you" He sighed and then it appeared that he came to a realization. "When I had her in my servos last night she did not react to touching me the way she reacted to you. Her human consciousness has no idea of how to feel another Prime. She reacted to you because you had been linked. I am not sure how you even did that. To my knowledge it is impossible to link into another spark unless you have been previously bonded, or you bonded her to you. Perhaps it is the organic element inside. Perhaps it is the way she has been sparked, and the power of the AllSpark inside. Even like this, with no spark involvement, her mind remembers you and the mere interlocking of tangible energy causes this reaction. And Ironhide, she always had a soft spot for you, even when we worked together." He nodded to himself in approval of his own idea.

"That's not gonna stay like that… Primes will follow Primes, it's her purpose ah'nd her instinct, ah'nd she's the only one in the damn galaxy fer all we know" added Ironhide "Once ya turn her back on, ya will 'ave t' link with her…there's no way t' control all of that. Not when both the human mind ah'nd the spark are on…or at least that's the crap R'ahtchet was mumblin' 'bout"

"Indeed…" the Prime agreed "But perhaps the more we let her human mind accommodate to this, the easier it will be for her Spark to accept her choice, rather than her instinct." He placed his servo on the other bot's shoulder and squeezed tightly "I am sorry my brother… "

* * *

><p>The water was a blessing on her skin. It was amazing to see how her body had changed with everything now inside her. Her fingers travelled over her skin, lingered over the bits of exposed metal and scraped at them with her fingernails. A shiver ran down her spin as she did that. "wow...it feels" she whispered to herself.<p>

For the first time in a while she took a few moments to just process what was going on. Her mind was trying hard to wrap around everything. Her body, her changes, her voice, the way she felt, the way she walked and carried herself. But yes, the way she felt was so different. It seemed like everything around her was electrified. She could touch something and feel it breathing, living, as if nothing was immobile any more. And then she could touch him, it, whatever you were supposed to call them. That inexplicable attraction to the mammoth of a Mech that had been her shadow. And those dreams... she had called him her warrior. Was that Ironhide in her dream? Impossible. He was human…but he seemed so much like the bot residing just a few rooms down from the showers.

They told her she was a potential Prime, but she looked nothing like one. What in the hell did that even mean, and most importantly why was he sad when he said it. That tone in his voice. The first time he said it in the lab… that was sadness. And why was Optimus staying away from her for the most part. He had said perhaps 2 words to her since they spoke the day prior. Ironhide has been her shadow, and quite relaxingly so far all she cared, but the Prime… he was clearly staying away. It became almost like a maddening puzzle. He had never been so cautious around her, and it wasn't like they hadn't met before. At first she thought she was dying, but after a bit of thought, she realized that wasn't it either. Her body was in perfect shape, and they even agreed to that statement earlier the day before. So then why the distance. This was going to be answered today, one way or another. But that thought came back to her. Potential Prime. How? Was that not a title that was bestowed upon one, a ceremony where Prime and Protector came together and the Matrix was handed over? How could she be a PRime? Did a spark require a certain signature to be deemed worthy? Was it the shard inside her heart that elevated her beyond other?

The moment the water was turned off was almost sad. She sighed and grabbed a towel off the small shelf. Vanessa slowly hummed to herself while she was drying off. For a little bit, her mind just cleared. She walked up to the mirror in the small bathroom and wiped the steam from it so that she could see her reflection. Her towel was wrapped around her, wet hair was clinging to her shoulders and face. Still humming, she combed her hair and smiled a little. She took off the towel and hung it back on the hook. A sigh escaped her lips when her eyes traveled up and down her body again. This time she was able to do it thoroughly, in peace, without the initial shock of the awakening. So much was already changed. Majority was on the surface it seemed, but she knew that inside her, pieces of her were missing as they once existed. They were now replaced with the intelligent metal component, and they were very much alive and intertwined with her own being. Her voice had changed, her mind was no longer hers it seemed, and the night prior she had been plagued with the weirdest of dreams. For whatever reason, putting the clothes back on seemed like a return to normality. Her hands ran back through her hair and she ruffled it up a little bit before letting it sprawl down her shoulders and back. Right now, this felt like the reality she knew. Combat boots, cargo pants, the "stylish" army kind certainly, and two tank tops, one white and one olive colored that she had layered atop of her sports bra. In one hand she carried her little bag of toiletries while in the other the matching shirt to the cargo pants. Right now, she didn't want it on.

* * *

><p>When the car pulled up to the compound, Connor about jumped out of it while it was rolling. He found it incredibly hard to control his excitement. Major Lennox was waiting for him as soon as he arrived. The young agent did his best to maintain protocol, and he kept himself all composed and professional, despite the fact that he was screaming on the inside.<p>

"Agent Bradly" the man greeted him with an extended hand. "Welcome to our humble abode... again" he said as he shook Connor's hand.

"Thank you Major" answered the agent and followed him quickly while one soldier walked close behind them, with Connor's bags in hand. "I appreciate you reaching out to us the moment you found her. Also thank you for arranging transportation"

"Yeah, not a problem" Lennox added and looked the younger man over. "I hope the trip was not too tiring" he continued and walked over into the adjacent living quarters that were a building down from the now Autobot only medical ward.

When they entered the living quarters, Connor stopped and thanked the soldier who had carried his bags in, but then his attention turned to the Major. He was wondering the entire time on how exactly to stop the chit chat and get down to the thing that really mattered to him. Lennox was no idiot, and the man knew that this was coming as well. But at that time, his biggest concern was how exactly to tell him what happened, and how much really should he tell him. Was the Agent going to lose his mind over this, was he going to be ok, and what amount of headache was this going to cause for NEST.

"Major, I appreciate all your help, but I have to ask … How is she? Will I be able to see her?"

"Yes. She is fine" he said with a tiny bit of hesitation in his voice. By all accounts she was perfectly fine, but as the Major was noticing himself, she was not exactly the same, and that didn't even account for the physical changes.

* * *

><p>Her footsteps were echoing through the almost deserted medical ward. Without Optimus giving them permission to return to the hangar, all medical personal was still in their new location, strictly for their safety obviously. She pushed open the door to the large bay which had now been turned into her "room". Both Autobots stopped their conversation and turned to look at her. Vanessa smiled and walked towards them casually. She threw the shirt over on the bed while she strolled by it, and then stood in front of them, arms crossed over her chest.<p>

"Well I suppose we should get to it" said the woman while looking from one bot to the other.

"Yes, we should. But we must talk first" Optimus noted.

"Oh yeah! We absolutely do!" Vanessa agreed and sighed "Listen, don't think I haven't noticed. You are staying away from me… like I am some monster" she continued while pacing around the room under their careful watch. "So you need to tell me why you are doing this"

"You are most certainly not a monster" the Prime quickly cut her off. "Things are a little more complicated" he started explaining and looked at Ironhide who simply sighed loudly, even though he tried to remain as quiet as possible. Vanessa glanced over and immediately noticed the sadness. "Follow us" he motioned and started walking towards the door "We will continue this in the Medic Bay" She nodded and walked by the bed to pick up her shirt, because last she remembered, the Medic Bay was quite cold.

Ironhide walked along her side not saying a word. Her hand reached out to touch the side of his pede as he moved by. He cast her a quick glance and the pain that she could sense from his optics cut her like a knife. It made her lose her stride, and it scared her so deeply that she instinctively wanted to just curl up against him, but that was impossible. Optimus half turned his helm and caught the exchange. His optics narrowed slightly as he knew that what would come next would not be easy, or pleasant, for anyone involved.

They walked into the Medic Bay and Ratchet was already there, roaming from side to side of the room, checking computers, running all sorts of scenarios. Her pod was still there, with the bed like support now back inside of it, angled ever so slightly but still vertical. The medical officer turned to them and stopped everything he was doing.

"Good afternoon" he greeted. "How are you feeling this morning? Your vitals seem perfect" he quickly added after scanning her briefly.

"Thank you Ratchet for quick violation of my body and privacy", she laughed and waved him off. "I am fine…I suppose as best as one could be. And I did take a shower, so that is a bonus"

Vanessa walked over to one of the many control panels, threw the jacket onto the back of a chair, sat down and started typing line after line of code. It poured out of her so seamlessly and effortlessly that it was almost an art. The Autobots stood behind her and watched the screen. Ratchet grunted briefly in approval and shook his helm "Yes… this makes sense" he murmured before moving to a panel next to hers and chipping in with his own idea.

* * *

><p>Ironhide stirred first, before the doors ever swung open, and she picked it up right away. The sound of both him and Optimus moving and turning around made her stop everything. Ratchet was unperturbed by any of this as he continued his work quietly.<p>

"VANESSA!" came the ever familiar voice of the man.

The autobots recognized him, and the giant simply narrowed his optics at him. Vanessa quickly grabbed her shirt and put it on before standing up and stepping out from behind Ironhide's massive frame. She smiled brightly at the sight of her dear Connor, but something in the back of her mind made her cringe as things did not feel right. A gut instinct made her almost sick. Yet she pushed through and returned the tight embrace. His arms wrapped around her feverously and his lips locked onto hers so tightly that she could barely breathe. He kissed her face all over and his eyes were welled up with tears of joy and gratitude.

"Hey…" she whispered to him and smiled sweetly, but the joy was soon dulled at the sound of the autobot transforming into the truck form, doors and hood slamming shut before he literally tore out of the Medical Bay. "Optimus ?" she asked quietly, but the Prime simply nodded.

"He will be alright" he assured her.


	13. Chapter 13 - Prime-ordial

Chapter 13 – Prime-ordeal

**Though it might seem like Vanessa is not being the nicest thing out there, I have to state that as I am taking a step back and watching this story write itself, I have genuinely no idea where her mind and attitude will end up at. I know that the way things are, they will pick up even more so and get quite dramatic, but frankly, which direction the characters will chose is actually unknown… even to me.**

When Ironhide sped up past him, Bumblebee decided to take off in the opposite direction. He drove through the bay doors and transformed mid stride. He stopped perfectly just a few feet from his newly found obsession, and looked at her and Connor.

"Bee!" said Vanessa who inadvertently was happy for the distraction. She smiled at Connor and gave him a quick peck on the side of his mouth before walking up to Bee who watched them confused. "Did you see Ironhide?" she asked. Bee nodded and scrolled through his radio stations "He looked mad" was the quick answer. Vanessa did not want to believe that, but she knew something was definitely off with him, and with her. The woman turned to Connor and placed both hands on each side of his face. His eyes were wide with absolute amazement. Her voice was nothing like it used to and he picked up on it right away. When she had uttered the first words he thought his hearing was off, but no, her voice was not the same. There was a mild metallic tingle to it, almost artificial sounding, and it fluctuated in and out. It didn't sound like the Autobots who spoke perfectly and had soft inflexions in their tone. It was almost like a mild interference that came and went, but enough that anyone could pick it up.

"Sweetheart, I need a little bit of time ok? Can you just relax and get settled into your quarters? Optimus and Ratchet need to help me out a little bit. For my own health."

Connor looked at her confused. "Why them? They are not human, they don't know. Where are all the doctors here? Why isn't anyone helping you out? Everyone is in this one other building while it is just you and them here. What is going on?" he sighed and grabbed her shoulders a little rougher than what Optimus liked. He immediately took a step forward but was met with Vanessa's stopping cold stare. "And what is wrong with your voice? What have they done to you?! Tell me!"

"It's ok. Nothing actually." She started.

"No! It's that thing inside you" he said and pointed to her chest. Optimus shifted, the sound of his mechanics filling the room. "Yes, I know about it. The doctors in the hospital didn't know what it was. When you were in the coma it kept trying to wake you up. It kept you alive, but they wouldn't touch it" he continued. "It's alien isn't it… Part of that cube!" he continued and relaxed his grip on her.

"It could very well be, but the point is, Ratchet and Optimus can help me out baby. I need you to trust me ok?" she continued with a sweet smile and kissed his lips softly. Her eyes were pleading with him "Just trust me. Just give me a little bit of time with them, and I will come and get you later this evening ok?"

Connor was not happy about it. She had been taken away from him for over 7 months, and now she expected him to just go and sit like a good boy in his room while she played doctor with two giant alien robots. He had not seen her so determined before. Normally Vanessa was a lot milder, more willing to just go along for the ride and to follow. He ran his fingers through her hair and tucked a strand behind her ear. His eyes were locked on hers, and he sighed ever so softly.

"Please…" she pleaded with him.

He nodded and gave her another kiss. "Fine, but please don't be too long" he then looked at Optimus "You better take care of her!"

Vanessa smiled at him and slowly walked with him towards the doors. She turned to look at Bumblebee for just a moment before asking "Find him for me" Bumblebee chirped in response as he shifted back into his Camaro form and drove right past them, cutting them off as he rolled down the hall. Connor was not particularly happy about her demanding that the other Autobot was found, but right now it mattered too little.

Once the man was gone, Vanessa exhaled loudly and dropped back into the chair, legs and arms dangling as if she had no control over them. She tilted back her head and closed her eyes. "Fuck me…" she mumbled almost to herself. Ratchet walked up to her and scanned her.

"I really hate it when you do that" she told him and looked at him with a raised brow.

"So does Ironhide" he quipped and shrugged his shoulders "But it is something you will both get used to, and eventually thank me"

She laughed at him. The first true laughter they had heard out of her since she had gotten there. The woman simply was letting her hair down with them. Her concerns about Connor were somewhere in the back of her mind, but it was obvious that she would need to address a few things with him, such as her little alterations. Hopefully he would be able to accept them.

"Ok… lets just do this" she said and took off her light jacket. "I wrote into code everything that I could think of about the restructure of the human genome. Yesterday when we spoke" she stated and wheeled herself on the chair up to the keyboard "You had mentioned" she motioned for Ratchet to look up "That the shard inside me is basically downloading and reprograming the transformium to mimic human anatomy. It learns our DNA and adapts it to your communal knowledge. So with that in mind, I dumped the code binaries behind it right here."

Ratchet nodded at her "This will allow us to keep track of how your body modifies. But right now, your spark is shut down. Optimus implemented code inside you that is genuinely keeping it suppressed. We need to remove that"

"It is very important that we bring it back. Your body will begin rejecting the transformium unless we turn it back on. Right now you have a modulator inside of you that is keeping your immune system at bay. It is not safe for you" Optimus explained.

"So what happens next?" she asked and looked from one to the other.

"I am going to reboot you" Optimus explained. "Don't worry… I'll be there with you" he quickly added and walked over to the pod. "I need you to get back in"

"Back in?" she asked. "Oh… let me guess… This used to be my bed for a little bit?"

"I suppose one could call it that" added Ratchet. "You need to lay back against it and let us hook the machines back in. What ever discomfort you will feel will subside as the machines lock into your body. The nanites inside you will take care of any marks left behind."

She took a deep breath and nodded. Slowly her hands gripped the side of the pod's entrance and looked inside. It appeared so cold, and the light inside it did nothing to make it look cozier. Vanessa stepped inside and then turned around, he back now resting against the cold metal of the upright bed. The icy feeling against her skin made her gasp sharply and she jumped a little bit. Optimus moved closer to her and knelt before the pod. She watched him and locked her eyes with the Mech before her. His facial expression relaxed in a real attempt to have her relax. One servo moved to the side of his helm, and just like before he pulled a small tendril from it that then locked to the back of her pod. Ratchet handed him a small box by their standards, perhaps the size of a very large suitcase. Optimus opened it up and popped open clamps on each corner of it. He attached it behind the metal egg containing the woman.

"Take a deep breath and hold it in" he asked.

Vanessa nodded and did as asked. As soon as her body held in the breath she felt it. The hundreds of tiny needles sunk into her body. Ports digging into the skin. Her eyes opened wide and she wanted to scream, but he shook his helm at her

"Easy… easy…" Optimus tried to comfort her and then looked at the other Autobot "Ratchet?" he asked.

The medical officer looked at the monitors behind them and nodded

"Her vitals are fine… it's just adrenaline and pain" he said and walked around the side of her "Now breathe… deep breaths…don't fight it…let the nanites inside do what they know to do, let the metal take it in" he continued.

She nodded at him and closed her eyes. Long deep breaths followed, one after another. Everything inside her was screaming, a deep burning pain was shooting up and down her spine in sharp pulses. She could feel it tapping into every cell, every extremity. Her ears were ringing, her vision was getting blurred, and it appeared as if the fabric of reality was slowly bending around her. The pain was slowly going away, but she was uncertain if that was her body taking care of the pain as Ratchet had advised her, or if she was just passing out from it.

* * *

><p>A trail of dust was all that was seen in the dusk of the desert. Bumblebee was driving down the bumpy road towards the current location of his older Weapon's Officer. Vanessa had sent him out to find the Autobot, and Bee had no intention of failing at that task. There had been hours since he had left and the smaller bot had no idea how long he had before whatever was going to happen, was actually going to take place. His radar had located Ironhide and he was about 10 minutes out.<p>

On the edge of a cliff stood the massive Cybertronian. He sat there and grunted slightly. He was uneasy, he was angry. He was angry at himself and the entire situation. Truly he had more experience than this and should have known better. This was going to happen. It should have happened that night, the night he woke her up. Optimus purposefully wanted to give her the extra day to get used to just being up and around. They were racing against time. That modulator inside her was only going to work for a few days at best before her body would just reject everything done to it and shut down. She would have died. The one potential Prime female floating around was trapped in a human body, and somehow she had linked to him. What were the odds?

"ARGH! Idiot!" he groaned as he stood and smashed his fist into the side of the cliff sending boulders tumbling down to the road below.

The sound of skidding tires and the metal clanking alive filled the desert as Bumblebee had to skid out of the way of the insta landslide and scurry himself to safety. He franticly waved his arms up at Ironhide in a clearly irritated manner. The older bot about growled with frustration and slid down the edge of the cliff.

"What?!" he asked with a grunt.

"Come back" Bumblebee asked.

Ironhide wanted nothing to do with that idea. He was not going back there, not now. Optimus was going to link with her, her suitable mate was there, and he was too damn confused, pissed, hurt, and flatout annoyed with everything to be able to go to the compound. Never had the autobot prayed for a mission as much as he was praying for one now. He shifted back into his alt mode and literally kicked dust in Bumblebee's optics. Sadly, or luckily for him, Bumblebee was not about to give up on this. He immediately shifted back into the fantastic sports car that he was and effortlessly took off after him. Even with the rough terrain, he found it easy to catch up to the massive truck. Bee overtook him by maybe, 5, 6 car lengths and transformed back to his autobot frame. His weapon cranked up and he pointed it at the truck. Without skipping a beat, Ironhide exploded out of his current form and body slammed Bee into the ground. "NO!" he yelled at him. Bee just looked up at him before his battle mask closed in over his face-plates and kicked the larger Autobot off of him. He scrambled to his pedes and charged Ironhide as he was still getting up. The officer spun up one of his cannons and shot at Bumblebee, but the pulse that came out was only intended to blast him back, not pierce the body of the other bot. The yellow Mech flew back and hit the ground hard. He shook his helm and gathered back to his pedes as he was getting ready to charge the larger one again. This time, Ironhide was waiting for him. As Bee rushed him, the mammoth of an officer simply stepped to the side, caught Bee by the side and slammed him hard into the ground, then got on top of him, hot burning weapons pointed at him, inches from his face-plates.

"AH SAID NO!" he growled

"Stop running" came Bee's response and his battle mask slid up revealing his gorgeous blue optics "Help her"

* * *

><p>Many hours had passed, well into the night. She was not going to be able to keep her promise to Connor. There was no sense of time. No knowledge of how long it had been since she had laid back against the icy metal bed. It took hours upon hours for the programing to load up, for Ratchet to run all his tests and the careful removal of her modulator. They couldn't knock her out for this procedure. They just had to be slow. Let the body adjust, let the transformium learn what to do with her body and how to compensate for the sensation. From time to time her eyes would open. She would whisper a few words that made no sense. She could see Optimus and Ratchet moving about, hooking machines back and forth, but she really did not know what all was happening.<p>

"Are we ready?" Optimus asked before kneeling to the side of the pod.

"In just a few minutes" Ratchet replied. "You may want to tell her"

"Vanessa" whispered the leader of the Autobots. Her eyes slowly opened and she let out a soft "Hmm?" to him. "Can you hear me?" he asked.

She nodded and her mouth parted to say "yes" but no words actually came out.

"You are going to go to sleep now. The link to your cortex is going to shut you down for a bit. I will be with you" he continued.

The metal straps that had held her body in place times before, now slowly slipped back over her body from the side of the table. They felt frigid against her skin, and she winced in pain when the cortex implant changed frequency to start shutting down her senses from the outside world. Panic started to set in. That inability to control herself was causing her body to want to fight, which is why they had started to put the metal bars back atop of her. Instinctively she was thrashing against the bed, but the restraints were doing their job.

"Ratchet?!" Optimus asked clearly concerned.

"She is fighting it!" said the medical officer and started adjusting the code to try and settle her down. "You have to calm her down or we will not shut her mind off like we need to"

"Can't you take her out of it?" he asked

"No" Ratchet continued "Too risky… we could kill her"

She wanted to run away from that place, from herself, from everything that was going on. Wanted to run from the pain and the fear, the confusion, the desperation. Wanted to sink into darkness and quiet and peace. Her eyes were fighting to stay open as she kept struggling against the restraints. Her flesh was bruising against the metal. She saw Optimus near her, and could hear him whisper to calm down, but she could not. Her eyes moved from side to side in the room looking for an escape. And then everything stood still, like slow motion. Everything just stopped, even her breath, for a few seconds there was stillness and silence.

And in that moment, in that confusing despair, her beacon was back. That shape, that movement, his voice breaking through so clearly.

"It's ok Sparklin'… Ah'm 'ere" Inronhide softly whispered and then her eyes closed, her world went dark.


	14. Chapter 14 – I can finally SEE you

Chapter 14 – I can finally SEE you

**I think I always start off with a little something about the chapter and the characters, but this time, I want to start off by simply saying "Thank you" to each and every one of you that reads my work. Through the story, I hope you will find little bits and pieces that are dear to you. And if you have a favorite character, please do not hesitate to contact me, and who knows, they may have a little extra "Screen" time. **

**EDITED: I realized that I should NOT try to proof read my work at 10 pm. Obviously in the copy paste process I may, or may not have missed a paragraph or two. Lesson learned...post chapters earlier. **

The wonderful lush hills seemed to go on for ever and ever. She smiled taking in the view and looked all around her. To her back, a massive green forest of pine trees scattered amongst patches of now yellows, reds and rusty colored leaves. It was so thick, so abundant and full of life. It must have been early fall at least. Strangely she had no idea why that thought crept into her mind. This place was foreign to her, and she had never been there before. And it felt so good, so very, very good to stand there. When she looked at her hands, they were no longer the fleshy fragile fingers of a human. They were long, metallic covered in intricate shapes made of beautiful biomechanics that she knew. Her hands - no - servos - traveled down her slender form, outlining the edges of her exoskeleton, down her flat and toned abdomen to the mild spikes that framed her pelvis and widened to her hips. She looked down at strong thighs, long pedes and they felt oh so firmly planted into the ground.

"YES!" she called out loud, and her arms spread up towards the perfectly blue sky.

The autobot took off running. Faster than she ever felt in a human form, so fast that grass was kicking up under each step. Vanessa skid a bit as she hit the edge of the pasture and stared at her reflection in the impeccably still water of a lake. In absolute awe she dropped to her knees. How she missed looking at this. Why she missed it, she didn't know, but this was her norm, her reality. This was familiar. The way her body felt, the way everything around her seemed to pulsate with energy. Her optics were a soft glowing shade of blue and they seemed to pulsate back and forth between that and purple. In an almost shy gesture she reached out towards the water wanting to touch it. As she did that, the colossal frame of Optimus Prime appeared behind her. Down on her knees, she froze. She was startled and stared at their reflection in the lake before jumping to her feet and turning to look at him.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Optimus Prime, and I am the leader of the Autobots here on Earth. Together with the humans we have formed an alliance to protect this planet and defend it from the Decepticon danger that has been plaguing this galaxy" he explained in his soft and reassuring voice. "You know me..."

"A Prime" she whispered and looked away.

Vanessa was tall by all means, the size of a normal Autobot, but she only stood about chest height to Optimus, that including the tip of her highest spike on the side of her helm. She slowly took a step back, and would have clearly risked falling back into the water had it not been for him wrapping an arm around her waist, palm pressing against the small of her back. Quickly, the femme looked up at him and then immediately looked away out of respect.

"Easy now… come" he said and pressed against her back a little bit, just enough to make her step towards him.

She took but one small step and her frame was already just inches from his chest-plates. It was very obvious that this felt very awkward to her. Lots of emotions were flowing through her at the same time, and it was quite difficult to try and sort them all out. Vanessa did not speak at all, but waited for him patiently to continue.

"Do you know who you are?" he asked her.

She shook her helm at him that she didn't.

"Do you know What you are?"

"No" she whispered and looked at him. Those soft blue purple optics just begging for answers "I see things…from my world and from this one" she continued and pointed out to the forest and pasture around them. "Bits and pieces of memories that don't belong to me…"

"I am sorry you were brought into this world in quite the unusual way" he said and stepped to the side, his servo still on the small of her back, urging her to walk along his side. "You are hold the potential to be a Prime, just like me" he continued "You were born from the fusion of the Energon Cube with the spark of Megatron, a powerful Decepticon leader. The cube was destroyed and a fragment splintered into the body of a human female. It, You, well yes, you rebuilt her body and grew slowly inside of her mind, but eventually you became just too powerful. I say you have the potential to become a Prime simply because of what has sparked you. There is innate good and kindness within you, and if used appropriately, you could be an asset to the entire Cybertronian species."

"Is this why I dream of her?" she asked and looked up at Optimus

"Precisely." He confirmed and nodded at her briefly "What do you remember?"

"Not much… I remember just bits and pieces. I am not sure if it was reality or this… what ever this is"

"This is our link state" he explained. "When two autobots link, they can transport each other into their own world. We feel, taste, see, smell, and can interact as if this is the real world simply by the way our sparks interact. The way energy vibrates inside of us when we are linked is what gives us sensations. Heights of absolute pleasure, depths of torturous pain, or simple conversation are just as easy to create. It all matters on what you want. I have been able to link with you via a hard line, and I deeply apologize for this intimate gesture, but it was required."

"Link…him! Optimus… in my link, in my dream, I was human… but with me, there was another Autobot one time, and then this man…Why?"

Optimus stopped and took a step in front of her. He faced her and looked down at the smaller and yet lovely femme in front of him. He sighed, and the warm air from his vents caressed her face-plates.

"Ironhide" he answered to her. "Your human counterpart was not completely shut down, as It is now. So because it had no idea what your vibration should look like, it simply portrayed herself. As for Ironhide, he has been at your side from the moment you were born. You pulled him into this reality, but again, the human mind depicted him the way she imagined him. We are still unable to find out how, and why his Spark and yours can drift into this from a distance, as if there is something akin to a bond already formed. Perhaps the two of you resonate just that perfectly. It happens, it is not that unheard of."

Her servo went to her intake and covered her now parted lip-plates. Optics moved from side to side as she tried her hardest to remember every little detail about him. Oh she knew him alright. That feeling around him was intoxicating and yet, with the Prime next to her, she could not focus to save her life. Fragments of the humans she had torn to pieces in the alley came back to her processor and she cringed. Her eyes narrowed, and almost closed before shaking her helm a little bit. She wanted to hold on to the feeling of how reassuring the other Autobot felt, she wanted to sink into the way Optimus felt and how comfortable she felt around him. But she could not. She had tasted and felt the fear of those men in their final moments, and now, outside of her fight or flight state, she had realized what it meant.

"I've hurt humans…" she whispered.

"I know"

"Have I hurt you? Or him?" asked the smaller femme visibly distraught.

Optimus laughed at her question and shook his helm. One servo moved over to the side of her face-plates and traced the delicate lines of her profile. This sparkling was not so much like the others. Sure she looked a lot like them, and in that moment he made a mental note to tell Ratchet to build her an exoskeleton, just in case, but he also realized she will have a heck of a time trying to balance the strong human mind inside with the spark. He knew the fight she will have to face. Her understood her pain, her need, her desire to melt together. But in all that, he also knew that once the human mind would work alongside the spark, it would tear her apart if he allowed instinct to take over. Primes were attracted by other primes as their energies vibrated differently, however it was not required. It was after all a matter of choice. Ironhide was concerned about how she would be able to control this. A young spark like hers, untrained, raised by no one except memories of the communal Autobot mind, was not going to be able to control impulses. Death, love, mating, sparking life, linking randomly, all these were trainable traits, and she had no experience in either.

"No, you have not hurt either of us" he replied. "I need to teach you something. And we are short on time. You must learn to feel other Autobots and Decepticons, but most importantly you must learn to accept the human consciousness. You cannot exist without it, and she can no live without you."

Vanessa nodded. She trusted him out of pure instinct. After all, he was linked with her and clearly had already given her the gift of her appearance. If he wanted to harm her, he could have. Optimus took one step closer to her, his chest bumping against hers just lightly. Both her servos came up to rest against the glass and front plates of his broad chest. Her helm tilted to the side a bit as her optics zoomed in and out looking at him. His right servo moved from the small of her back to the back of her helm. He leaned in, just under an inch from her face-plates and he whispered.

"Feel me"

The moment those words hit her audio receptors, she simply gasped as her body was shuddered with sensations that she could not even process. Her pedes gave in, her digits curling up to grip against the metal of his body. Quickly he brought his left servo around her waist and held her up against him.

"Breathe... Vent" he whispered, breath hot against the metal of her face.

She could no longer hold her optics open, and gave in to the sensation. His right servo moved from the back of her helm to the side of her face-plates, cupping her check and chin, while the other servo simply held her against him until she steadied herself back on her pedes The feeling was so intense it made every circuit of her body tingle. Energy traveled up and down each fragment of her, and it slithered in and out, around, in soft little trickles that made her shiver on and off. Once he knew that she was well on her pedes, he took his left servo just about an inch away from her body and allowed the tips of his digits to trace a line up her spinal strut. He realized she forgot to breathe again under the impact of the feelings, and he brushed his lip-plates against hers in a soft whisper.

"Breathe"

Her arms traveled up over his shoulders and wrapped around his neck, slowly pulling him towards her. She could see memories, she could feel his own emotions melting inside of her. The vibration in her chest was like a soft hum and it warmed her up from the very core of her being. Flashes of images danced in the back of her mind: Images of Cybertron, flashes of battles, chases, humans, space, galaxies zooming in and out as they traveled. Vanessa remembered to breathe this time, and those soft glowing optics opened up to look at him and get lost in the deep blue pools glowing back at her.

"This is insane" she finally spoke, her voice clearly breaking.

"This is a link" he explained to her. "This is what a Prime feels like" He pulled his helm back a little from her and moved his digits over the side of her intake. "Do you see what I mean?"

"Oh, I finally SEE you" she nodded and smiled at him.

Optimus smiled and leaned in to give her what would be perhaps their only kiss. It wasn't like anything that would ever be known to a human. That exchange of energy, the tingling, the sparks and electricity that was genuinely tangible in the air, could never be experienced outside of a link. Her servos traveled to the side of his face-plates when she pulled away from him. Their forehelms met and leaned against each other in silence.

"You know that I promised I will be here for you. Well, I have kept my word" he said and looked at her.

"Now what?" asked the femme and took a step back from him.

"Now, my little sparkling, you go back to reality" he answered and then placed his servo on her shoulder "Remember to be understanding, gentle, and to protect your human, and your Autobots. I know at least one, who will be very happy to see you"

* * *

><p>When the pod door hissed open, Ironhide stood up and looked at Optimus. The Prime unhooked himself from the link to the pod and nodded at the other. He stood up and tapped his shoulder. Ratchet came cruising along them and looked at the woman in the chamber. Vanessa slowly opened her eyes and brought up her hands to her face. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.<p>

"I am NOT doing this again" she said before stumbling out of the pod and pretty much landing in Optimus' servo.

She looked up at him and blushed. Those feelings that coursed through her body just moments ago were very much alive, and she instantly got flooded with all the memories of the link. The woman brought her hand to her chest and she staggered back from him. She fell to her knees, taking deep, long and labored breaths. Ratchet wanted to come help, but she shook her head at him to not do that. Oh she could feel it alright. The consciousness inside of her waking up. Her body was feeling so alive, so acutely sensitive. Hearing, feeling, touch, smell, everything was enhanced and she could hear every little machine in the room. From behind Optimus, Ironhide stepped closer and watched her quietly. She climbed to her feet and walked over to him. The mammoth bot knelt in front of her and she smiled brightly.

"Hey big boy" she whispered.

Her hand reached out to touch him, wanting to reach for his face but he was still too far. Ironhide lowered his helm to her level and she placed both hands on the side of his face-plates, and allowed her mind to open up to him. Eyes went wide with shock as the energy ran through her human body for the first time. He felt it as well and the sensation of it made him plant both servos onto the ground in front of him, on each side of her standing frame.

"I can SEE you" she whispered to him "My Warrior"


	15. Chapter 15 - UnBEElievable

Chapter 15 - UnBEElievable

**Author note: There is no surprise that I love Bee. I think he brings so much light into the Autobot world that he needs and deserves a lot of time in any story. I may not always give him the attention he deserves, but he definitely is the reason that Vanessa is not a pile of flesh and bones with a broken mind and a confused spark. Him bringing Ironhide back, at the toll of an ass-whopping is what allowed for a proper shutdown. Love me some Bumblebee, and I know at least 1 reader who will agree with me. ;)**

Optimus walked over to Ironhide and helped him up, thus pulling him away from her grasp. She took in deep, labored breaths and steadied herself against a neighboring wall. Vanessa was not expecting that amount of shock to run through her when she opened her mind to him. The vibration of her spark was strong inside her human body, and she could feel the sharp pain in her chest followed by an incredible warmth. Ironhide clearly had no idea what that was going to feel like either, and he had been taken by surprise by the strength of her linking to him full force. Before he allowed her little control and the sparkling inside was weakened. But now, she had fully opened up to every little sensation possible, and with that, brought on the full force of the bond.

"She will learn" Optimus told him as the other autobot shook his helm and shuddered a bit.

"Sorry!" Vanessa finally murmured. "This is a lot stronger out here than it was ... "

Her train of thought was broken when she heard the chirps of Bumblebee who was swatting away at Ratchet. The woman walked over, sliding around Ironhide to see what was going on. Bee looked a bit of a mess, and Ratchet was trying his best to fix a few pieces of plating that had gone array on his exoskeleton. The yellow bot was having none of that however, and chirped annoyed at the Medical officer while trying to get away from him. Sadly for the smaller one, he was locked into the chair and couldn't really do much. Finally, the sound of metal on metal clanking filled the room as Ratchet smacked him upside the head with a tool.

"Will you sit still before I put one of your eyes out ?" he groaned "I swear you are worst than a human child!"

Bumblebee slammed his battle-mask on and narrowed his optics at him. Vanessa busted out laughing at the two before it dawned on her. Something had happened to him, and the last thing she remembered was her asking the autobot to find her "guardian". A few steps were taken towards him, a smile on her lips but concern clearly in her eyes. Her slid back his battle-mask and waved at her cheerfully.

"What happened?" she asked

Bee shrugged a bit and motioned towards Ironhide with a light chirp. "I would do anything for love" came on the sound of the radio. Her instinct was to laugh at the song choice, but when she heard the doors slam on the Topkick 4500 she knew that he had shifted back into his alt mode and was about to hightail out of there.

"You shot him?!" Vanessa turned to Ironhide and pointed back at Bumblebee "Ironhide damn it, you pop out of that form now!" she demanded and walked up to the truck. The woman slammed her fist into the hood "I swear I will smack the smart out of your ass if you don't!"

Reluctantly Ironhide popped back while Vanessa stepped to the side to allow him room to transform. He looked down at her and groaned annoyed. His unforgiving glance was cast towards Bumblebee as the other bots chuckled openly at the exchange.

"Ah didn't SHOOT him, shoot him... Ay just...sort'a shot 'im" he explained with a shrug.

"We don't shoot each other!" she added and looked back at Bee "I mean look at him... he weighs like what...5 tons soaking wet?" added the woman and pointed at the smaller bot who finally was released from the seat and stood up, bouncing around the room as he moved his repaired shoulder.

"Not mah fault..." Ironhide grumbled. "Ah have big guns... Ah thought ya liked mah guns..." he said and looked at her sheepishly, the tone in his voice being almost sad, but in a joking manner. Back in the day, she had indeed made some comments about his cannons, and that joke stuck with them ever since.

"No!" she quickly blurted out. "I mean yeah, love the guns, but don't point them at him. I seriously don't see how this is not your fault"

"Well, he started it" the other autobot simply stated. "Ah didn't tell him t' cut me off ah'nd aim fer meh"

Vanessa felt like she was about to shoot them both and solve the problem. Her entire body turned to face Bumblebee who was mock pointing his cannon at Ironhide. Bee's optics went wide and he immediately put his one arm behind his back, mechanics slowly shifting to cover the weapon.

"Did you seriously draw on Ironhide?" she asked and heard both Ratchet and Optimus stifle a laughter in the background.

Bumblebee looked down all guilty like, and brought out his right servo, moving it from side to side in a "Maybe" kind of silent statement. The woman threw her hands up in the air as she walked to the door. Her glance met Optimus' and she shook her head.

"How did you not kill these two?" she asked.

"There were times when I was tempted" he answered and nodded at her in understanding.


	16. Chapter 16 - To whom I belong

Chapter 16 – To whom I belong

**Author note: I am not exactly a fan of what is transpiring in the story going forward, however it seems that it is the path the characters have chosen to take. As weird as it seems, I always stand by my statement that the characters write themselves, rather than allow me to write them. We shall see, together, where this will lead. **

He had been pacing the entire day since he left her. As it got closer and closer to the evening, Connor became restless. The promise she had made was that she would come and get him later that evening, and that they would talk, that she would explain everything that was going on. Yet the hours came and went, but she didn't. Frustrated beyond human limits, and worried beyond belief, he eventually made his way to the Autobot designated medical bay and tried to gain access to the lab. He had been met by two guards who refused to let him in. Eventually, Major Lennox had to step in and dragged the agent back to his quarters.

Nothing about this was good. Nothing felt right and his stomach was twisting and turning with each passing hour. As the night came he settled into a restless sleep. On and off through the night he got up, walked around the room, stared out the window at the still lit Medical Bay and wondered what the hell was going on in there. He saw Bumblebee and Ironhide rush in, and that did not help him feel any more relieved.

When morning came, he got up, took a quick shower and immediately got dressed. It was a little past 0600 hours when he finally settled back down at his desk and opened his laptop. He started researching the news about what had happened to the thugs in the alley earlier that week. He guessed it could have been Vanessa, as the timing was absolutely perfect but he needed confirmation. A few phone calls later, and a package was left in his FTP dropbox. He quickly opened it and looked through the classified information. The pictures were graphic to say the least, and he felt his stomach turning. He could not believe that his fiancé was capable of doing something like that to another human being. Clearly this was not her in control. Those autobots must have done something to her. Maybe an experiment that took place during the time they worked together with them at NEST. Surely there was no way that a splinter of the cube would just so serendipitously get lodged inside her body and change her very being.

When he heard the knock on the door he almost jumped out of his chair. Quickly he folded down his laptop and got up.

"Who is it?" he asked

"It's me" she answered slowly. "I brought some coffee" she continued from behind the door.

Connor smiled to himself relieved and walked up to the door. He opened it and stepped aside as he motioned for her to come on in. Vanessa smiled a little bit nervously and held the cup of coffee up to him. The man took the cup from her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. She watched him close the door behind her and flashed him a light smile. Vanessa set her cup of coffee down on the desk next to his laptop and wrapped her arms around her as a chill ran up and down her spine. She had managed to take a shower, grab an apple and a change of clothes, but that was about the extent of it. Lennox, unable to argue with the woman, had provided her with a thigh holster for her 5 inch 1911, with a sheath for a striker knife, and it now rested comfortably atop her black tactical pants. She had on a tank-top layered with a t-shirt and a brown leather jacket that came down to her waist. Even with all that, she was still cold. Connor walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. He leaned in and kissed the side of her neck, just above the collar of her jacket. She smiled and leaned back against him while her hands traveled over his.

"I'm sorry I took so long" she whispered.

"It's ok" he quickly answered and continued to plant soft kisses against her skin.

He held her close to him, and his breath traveled down the back of her neck softly. The room was dimly lit and the blinds were closed. It was daybreak and the sun was starting to come up, but it was not enough to light up the room. She could hear outside the hustle of the base as it came alive. His hands traveled to her shoulders and down to her biceps, slowly squeezing as he moved his kisses from left to right, causing her to tilt her head one way then the other. With a light nudge, he made known his desire to move towards the twin bed to their left. A light giggle escaped her as she walked over with him in tow. Vanessa sat down on the edge of the bed, her back to the windows, and Connor slid down behind her.

"Let me give you a back rub" he whispered in her ear. "You feel as tense as a piece of metal"

She laughed a bit and in the darkness she let the jacket slide off of her. Quickly she felt his hands on her shoulders, slowly rubbing, kneading the flesh, dripping sweet kisses on the back of her neck as he worked his fingers into her skin. His movements guided her head back and forth, almost like a puppeteer controlling his puppet and she was quite fine with that. For once she relaxed. This felt so much like home. It felt like everything she knew. Like all that other stuff that had happened was just a distant nightmare. All that confusion, all those questions that she did not have any good answers to. Soft moans left her lips with each passing moment, and it appeared as though things finally slid back to normality for her. 7 months give or take, and she hadn't felt his touch since. Quite frankly she never thought she would ever again. The day she looked up at those flashing lights, the day she felt the blood in her mouth and the pain in her body, the day her world went dark was the day she thought she had died. Now, having gone through all of that, and having been brought back to reality, she felt as if things were slowly starting to get back to the norm, whatever that meant these days. As Connor moved around the bed, she felt the weight shift on the mattress, at which time her eyes opened to try and look at him in the very dimply lit room. He smiled at her in the dark, and slid to the left of her only to get back onto the bed from the foot of it, and slowly work his way over her body. With a light laughter, Vanessa leaned back against the pillows and reached her arms out to him, inviting him to come closer to her so that she could kiss his lips. However, he had other plans. With a light swat, he pushed her hands out of the way playfully, then motioned for her to just lay back, which the woman gladly agreed to. His hands slid to the side of her hips, up over her belt and fingers curled under the rim of her tank-top. As he slowly lifted the fabric off of her body, his lips came to breathe soft kisses atop of her skin. His actions were met with a sharp gasp from her, and her body arched against his mouth, her back lifting off the bed while her fingers dug into the sheets and curled up with them. Connor took his time, lifting the tank-top higher and higher until he almost reached the underside of her bra. With each inch of skin her uncovered, another kiss would come atop of it to warm her up.

When his lips met the warm but strange sensation of her metal, he stopped. His fingers slowly traced the outline of the transformium which sent a shiver down her spine like nothing she had ever felt before. The man looked at it, felt, tried to understand what it was, but unfortunately he could barely see. Vanessa lifted her head up from the pillows to look down at him. She was a bit confused as to why he had stopped, and now even more confused as to why he quickly slid off the bed, rushed over to the wall, then flicked on the main lights.

"Gah!" she called out while covering her eyes from the bright light "Baby, what the heck are you doing?" the woman asked.

Connor walked back to the bed where she lay, bent over to get a closer look at her body, fingers sliding over the parts of her skin that were no longer human but covered in transformium. His eyes went wide with shock, but the man did not say a word. Vanessa's breathing was heavy, she had been so perfectly turned on by his actions, so deliciously lost in her world of sensations, that she could barely understand what was going on. She followed him with her eyes, looked down at the metal showing through her skin and looked a bit puzzled. From gentle and sweet, his touch became rough. He grabbed a hold of her tanktop and pulled it up over her bra tearing it in the process.

"Connor! What the hell?!" she asked before jumping up and trying to get away from him. Her sports bra was still on, but her top and shirt not so much. They hung over her shoulders as he had torn through Adrenaline was a fabulous thing, and it made the body do all sorts of things, but it did nothing for the capacity to think and act out normally.

The man moved to her quickly, grabbed her by her shoulders and pulled her off the bed to stand in front of him.

"What have they done to you?" he asked with anger in his voice.

"Let me go!" she called to him annoyed and a bit scared. She had never seen him like this. Vanessa struggled against him, trying to push him off of her but not wanting to hurt the man. "They didn't do anything to me" she added before pushing him off of her. His fingers felt like vice grips against her flesh, and she could have sworn that they bruised her.

"This is NOT YOU!" he yelled at her and pointed at the marks on her body, the pieces of her flesh long gone that were now glistening against the light as the metal caught the reflection. "This is not Vanessa!" he continued before reaching out for her again.

Vanessa dodged him and backed away from his reach, her hands in front of her almost pleading him to stop. Sure this was a shock to him, the woman clearly understood that, but what she did not understand was his aversion towards her at this time. Why did he have an issue with this? He had worked along her side with the Autobots, he had helped drive history to the point it was today. Why act like this? Connor advanced towards her and grabbed her arm again around the wrist.

"We are leaving now!" he demanded, wanting to get her as far away from this as possible.

"You're hurting me" she informed him before trying to move her hand out of his grasp. But the man was not budging. AS it is said, the road to Hell is paved with good intention.

Vanessa moved further and further back but he pulled on her and tugged at her arm in his attempt to bring her back fully into his reach. Panic had set into her heart, and she could feel a vibration that was familiar, and yet very, very, strange to her. She knew she needed to get out of there, get out fast, just step away from him without another thought. Connor however was having none of this, especially since Vanessa was getting closer to the door. With one more push, he reached out to grab her shoulder again, but this time she stepped back and to the side, left hand reaching to her thigh holster and pulled out her gun. She pointed it in his face, her glance stern and unmoved.

"Let Go Of Me!" Vanessa demanded abruptly.

Connor out of reflex let go of her, the shock on his face clear while his eyes locked with her tear filled ones. The woman fumbled behind her until she found the door handle, pushed down on it and slid the door open, her eyes never leaving him, the large 1911 staring him in the face as well. The door slammed shut in front of her with him on the other side and she lowered her weapon, her breathing labored, accompanied by devastating chills down her spine and a tingle inside her chest that she could not control. The man was not giving up. She heard the door starting to open, but was not going to wait around. Vanessa turned on her heels, took off running down the halls until she hit the exit. People looked at her confused, as she had torn clothes on, as well as a gun in her hand.

As soon as she burst out the door she saw him standing there, casting his shadow over the ground. That whine of the cannons filled her ears, as his gears shifted and the massive weapons spooled up, hoisted proudly on his arms.

"Ah'm gonna tear him apart" he announced, weapons pointed to the entrance of the building while he took in her newly tattered look, distressed facial expressions and the gun in her hand.

"Ironhide no!" she called out to him just as Connor ran out the door behind her.

Vanessa turned to look at the man, the giant Mech towering protectively behind her, guns lowered and aimed at the man. She holstered her weapon before taking one step back, her hands moving to gather the torn shirt and tank-top over her body. Her glance traveled up and down his body before stopping on his face, her eyes filled with tears, so painful that she could barely control it. Vanessa sucked it up, one quick glance out of the corner of her eye towards Ironhide and the Cybertronian lowered his servo to her. She didn't have to look to know how to take a step back onto his servo. She sat down as he lifted it and straightened himself out.

"You need to go" she stated "Before he decides to blow you up all over the parkinglot"

"Ah'm still keepin' that option open" Ironhide added before walking away with her, venting angrily at what had happened. He zoomed in on her body as she crumbled into a pile sobbing in his hand, shivering and confused.


End file.
